


Blooming Heart

by Saltymew



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Flower crown au, Flowers, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Kingdom of Corona, Language of Flowers, M/M, Mild Blood, Post-Canon, Slow Burn, So many flowers, The Unversed (Kingdom Hearts), Vanitas Redemption (Kingdom Hearts), Vanitas is oblivious, Ventus is a sly little muffin, only at the beginning and end tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-30
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:48:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 28,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23386900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saltymew/pseuds/Saltymew
Summary: So this au started with just an idea that I had in a discord server one day. I mulled it over and it grew  so I decided to write a small one-shot... 27k words later and here we are
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), Vanitas/Ventus (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 29
Kudos: 68





	1. Daffodil - Rebirth

**Author's Note:**

> So this au started with just an idea that I had in a discord server one day. I mulled it over and it grew so I decided to write a small one-shot... 27k words later and here we are

Ventus didn’t know what to expect from the realm of darkness. He was a little bit hesitant, but if he was with Terra and Aqua, they’d be fine. They wanted to do their part in the search for Sora. It broke everyone’s heart that he was missing, and they all decided to do something to try to help. 

It wasn’t as scary as he thought it would be, but the heartless here were _way_ stronger than normal. Aqua gave them a rundown of everything she knew, along with her experiences in the realm of darkness. She skimmed through, or underplayed most of her adventure, giving small glances at Terra once in a while. She knew he still felt guilty, and they were _all_ trying to fix the cracks in their relationship, trying to make the Land of Departure feel like home again. Some of it was still in ruins…

They wandered for what felt like years, and found no sign of Sora anywhere. Terra and Aqua were fighting their way through a hoard of heartless when Ventus heard a pained cry. _What was that?_

He wandered away from Terra and Aqua, and after a few paces he stopped to listen. He could hear the chittering of nearby heartless. Ventus took off, following the sound. It was getting louder, and he heard another anguished groan. A large orb of darkness was on the floor, with heartless surrounding it. _What are they doing?_ Ventus thought. One by one, the heartless were pouncing on it. _Is it some sort of shield?_

He slowly walked up to it. More and more heartless were rallying together to break the dark shield. They started flooding in up over the hills that surrounded the field. Finally, a large neoshadow jumped from a cliff, digging its claws through the barrier. A ragged scream pierced its way through the opening as the dark orb exploded, and seeped back into the ground. The heartless were free to lash out at whatever was in the middle. Ventus was wary. He squinted, trying to figure out what they were attacking. Another mangled cry tore its way through the victim, and Ventus had enough.

He blasted a firaga at the wall of heartless, and they flew everywhere. 

“Hey! Over here!” he taunted. He thought he heard a whimper from whatever the heartless were attacking. Ventus started to walk back slowly, trying to drag the heartless away from the open field. 

The shadows that got thrown off by the firaga stared back at Ventus with angry red eyes. He was starting to get nervous. _No_ , Ventus thought, _I can do this. Whatever was in that barrier needs my help. I can save it!_

He slashed his way through wave after wave of heartless. He could see a mass of darkness lying in the middle of the field where the barrier exploded. _At least the heartless aren’t attacking it anymore,_ he thought.

Ventus started getting closer to the mass as he fought back a hoard of neoshadows. It was curled in on itself, shaking. _A person???_ He made quick work of a few stragglers, and ran to them. 

Their back was exposed, deep claw marks rippling their flesh, blood trickling from the wounds. Darkness was oozing everywhere, covering the person’s form. They were shaking uncontrollably.

Ventus cautiously tip-toed around the dark ooze and came face to face with the person. Their hair was matted and plastered to their head by the darkness and blood, but Ven could make out the distinct pitch black hair. “No way…” he muttered to himself. 

_It was Vanitas._

Getting over his fear of touching the black ooze, he reached out and moved Vanitas’s blood-stained locks out of his face. His eyes were clamped shut. He looked _terrified_. Ventus didn’t know what to do. 

He noticed Vanitas was clutching his stomach, and Ventus used the rest of his magic to cast a cure spell. The shaking stopped, and Vanitas opened his eyes. Ventus reeled back, falling on his butt. 

Vanitas’ eyes were _red_. The yellow completely drained from his glossy eyes. Ventus quickly recovered from the shock and reached for him again.

_“No...no.”_ Vanitas croaked, and _oh_ , he sounded like he was going to _cry_. 

“I’m going to help you,” Ventus whispered adamantly. 

_“...just, put an end to me”_ Vanitas said, his words slightly slurred. His eyes started to fall shut. Now Ventus felt like _he_ was going to cry, his own words mirrored back to him from what felt like so long ago. 

He grabbed Vanitas’ wrist, feeling for a pulse. Ven let out the breath he was holding in. _Thank goodness_ , _he only passed out due to blood loss_ . Okay, he’d have to admit that was still bad, but at the _very_ least he was alive. How was he going to carry him out of here though? If he was moved, he would lose even more blood… His thoughts were interrupted by the rattling of metal.

“Ven!” a deep voice yelled.

“Ventus! Where are you?!” a female voice rang.

_Terra and Aqua!_ Ventus smiled in relief, _they found me!_

He got up off the floor and started jumping up and down. “I’m over here!” he yelled, waving his arms. He could see them running over a hill, just above the clearing. They stopped running abruptly upon noticing the black smear splattered along the ground. 

“What is that?! Aqua shrieked. They slid down the hill and ran to Ven, crushing him in a hug. It was awkward with their armor, but Ven tried wrapping his arms around them anyway. 

“Ven,” Terra spoke in a serious tone, placing a hand on his shoulder. _We don’t have time for this!_ his mind was screaming at him. “What were you thinking? We can’t get separated again” his voice broke on the last syllable, his hand gripping Ven’s shoulder a little bit tighter. Now Ven felt extremely guilty, he knew how they felt about being separated, but now was _not the time_. They needed to help Vanitas. 

“I-I know, I’m really sorry,” he said genuinely, stepping away from them. He pointed to Vanitas’ unconscious form “but we need to help him.”

Terra started to inspect him. “Ven, who…?” He moved a glob of darkness clinging to Vanitas’ head and recoiled like he’d been burnt. “What?!” he recognized him immediately. Aqua made a soft gasp and moved closer to him.

“Guys, I think we should help him,” he said, trying but failing to sound confident, “he was getting attacked by the heartless, I heard him. He sounded like he was in so much pain…” he whispered sadly. 

“And you saved him.” Terra said matter-of-factly. Ventus silently nodded. “I see.” After a few breaths, Terra cast curaga on Vanitas. 

“Terra…” Aqua trailed off. She slowly raised her keyblade and cast her healing magic as well. 

“I trust Ven, if he thinks Vanitas deserves another chance, so do I. No matter how wary I am of him.” Ventus couldn’t see his face, but he knew Terra was giving Vanitas a glare. 

“Okay,” Aqua said, her voice rising in confidence. She faced Ventus, “I trust you too Ven, now let’s take him back home with us.”

~ ~ ~

Vanitas woke up to a blinding light. He shut his eyes, and tried moving his arm to cover his face. He hissed as a sharp pain shot up through his body. He was immobilized, _great_. He shifted a little bit, and noticed he was on something warm. _A bed? he thought._ _It’s comfortable…_

Vanitas never got any luxuries when he trained with Xehanort. Half of him wanted to know where exactly he was, but the other half wanted to melt into the soft mattress, bathed in the warmth of the cotton sheets. 

He groaned, prying his eyes open slowly, attempting to look around the room. He felt dizzy, and everything was blurry to him. There was a bookshelf...a colorful table...a chair...and brown walls. _Wait... this is Ventus’s room._

He needed to get out of here. Panic started rising in Vanitas’s chest as he felt an unversed spawn. A small flood appeared next to the bed, and started to wander out into the hallway. _NO! If those three see it, they’ll know I’m awake._ He tried desperately to calm down so he wouldn’t make any more unversed. 

He was surprised to find that despite all his panic, only one small flood appeared. _That never happens…_

He didn’t have time to dwell on it though. It was hard to move his body, but he could see why after he freed his arm from the blankets surrounding him. Bandages were wrapped around the cuts and gashes he received from the heartless. _They_ _did this_? he thought, incredulous. _Why were they_ nice _to me? Why did Ventus save me?_

Something wrapped around his heart, squeezing it.

**Pain.** A constant. Always a part of Vanitas’ life.

**Guilt.** Something he’s felt ever since he disappeared from the Keyblade Graveyard.

**Gratefulness.**

Wait. What? Gratefulness… Vanitas had never experienced _that_ before. He was getting nauseous. He needed to get out of here. 

Vanitas groggily pulled the blankets away to free his legs, ignoring the pain that seared through him like a hot knife. If there was one thing that came from all this, it was his pain tolerance. 

He swung his legs off the bed, and pressed his feet to the floor. They stung from how much Vanitas had to walk through the realm of darkness. By the time the heartless reached him, his feet were too blistered and sore to take another step. It looked like they were wrapped in bandages, just like the rest of his body. Great, now the guilt was back again.

He couldn’t let that stop him. He pushed off the bed with his hands, even though his body was telling him not to. He was so dizzy that he had to clutch the bookshelf for support. He took a step. Then another. And another. It felt like he was walking through honey, his movements tired and sluggish. The bandages on his legs came loose, and blood started to drip on the floor. Vanitas knew he didn’t have enough energy to summon a dark corridor, but he had to find another way out. 

He reached the doorway, gripping the walls to support his body. He was still too dizzy to see, and he couldn’t think straight. He heard voices.

“Aqua, what’s that noise?” 

“What do you mean?” this voice was more distant.

“I thought I heard some-” the deep voice gasped, “an unversed!”

Everything that happened next felt like it was in slow motion, as if he were in a dream. The metal _Shhng!_ of a keyblade, the last cry of a flood, then the burst of euphoria Vanitas received, some of the pain relieved. But he knew what came next. 

  
His emotions and _pain_ crashed back into him like a wave, and Vanitas couldn’t stand any longer. His knees gave out as he fell to the ground with a loud _thud_. The last thing he saw were three pairs of feet, running his way.


	2. Angrec - Royalty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanitas wakes up to his 'prison guard' sleeping on the job. Since he's immobilized he might as well read a book...

The next time Vanitas woke up, he was wrapped so tightly in blankets that he felt like a burrito. It was nighttime, so he didn’t have to strain his eyes to see. Most of the dizziness was gone, and he looked at the floor where his bandages came loose. _The blood is gone… They had to clean it because of you,_ a voice in his head mocked. He dug his fingernails into the bandages on his arms, trying not to feel guilty again. 

His eyes scanned the room, noticing the missing chair that used to be near the desk. It was now at the foot of his bed, with a sleeping blonde in it. _Ventus…_

_He was probably on guard duty, but fell asleep. I could just walk out of here and he would still be peacefully napping. What a dork._ His lips upturned slightly, but not in a snarl or a smirk. He felt strange, and moved a hand to his heart. It was beating a little faster than usual, but he didn’t feel pain. He kept his eyes on Ventus. _What is this…_

“He was sitting here all day, you know,” a girl said. Vanitas kept his eyes trained on Ventus, afraid to look at her. _Aqua._ He started to squirm, and noticed that the sharp pain he once felt was replaced with a dull ache. She continued, “He kept using his healing magic on you, every chance he got.” 

_Ventus did that?_ he thought in awe. He promptly ignored the voice in the back of his mind telling him to feel _guilty._ Slowly turning his head, he locked eyes with her. She gasped, and took a step back. “Your eyes…” she trailed off.

“ _W--what about em’"_ He tried to sound menacing, but ended up sounding like a small child who had been crying for an hour. His voice was unrecognizably scratchy, and it burned his throat to talk. He broke out into a violent coughing fit, only trying to stop so Ventus wouldn't wake up. 

“Here,” Aqua said, reaching for a glass of water. She held it up to his mouth. “Drink” she commanded. Vanitas glanced at the cup, then to her. She huffed a short laugh, “It's not poison” she said, slightly amused. He leaned forward and started drinking. He shut his eyes immediately and brought his hands up to the glass. It was cool and stopped the burn in his throat, like a desert plant getting its first rainstorm. 

Vanitas heard the soft steps of Aqua’s shoes walking away from him. Just before she left, Vanitas muttered.

“... _thank you.”_

She turned around and faced him. “Hm?”

He paused, and looked down to the half empty glass. He spoke up slightly, “thank you.”

She looked surprised, and smiled at him. “You’re welcome, Vanitas. Are...you hungry? I can get you some food.” 

Vanitas squinted at her, confused. _Why are they being nice to me? What do they want?_ He continued to stare at her. “I guess I am…” he said, uncertain. 

She nodded once, “Okay, I’ll be back. Terra and I can make something.” She left them room, and Vanitas looked back at Ventus again. He looked relaxed, peaceful, _happy_. He narrowed his eyes. 

_“_ You’re lucky _…”_ he whispered. Vanitas was starting to get bored, so he gazed out the window. _The stars are out tonight...I wonder what it’s like to watch them with somebody,_ he thought wistfully.

Vanitas sighed, starting to feel lonely. He reached for the bookshelf behind him, feeling for a book to read. His bandaged fingers brushed over the spines, and he settled on a small, hardcover book. He pulled it from the shelf. It looked like a children's book. Bright pink covered the front and back, with bouquets of flowers embroidering on the top and bottom. 

A huge, majestic castle sat in the middle of the front cover, with a princess looking to the distance atop her balcony. The back cover displayed a shining knight in full armor riding a horse, galloping gracefully toward the princess. The title read, “The Knight’s Rose”, with a flamboyant purple rose weaving through the letters, stopping at the O. 

_Of course Ventus would have this book_ , he thought to himself. His mouth turned up in an almost smile. Despite what he said, he opened the book and started reading,

~ ~ ~

_Once Upon a Time, there was a shy but fair princess. She was crowned Strelitzia of Daybreak Kingdom. Every day, she would stand upon her balcony and look out unto her townspeople, observing._

_She cried at fights that broke out in the streets, and smiled at festivities that were held at the fountain, wishing that she had the courage to join in. She was content though, for her brother would bring her presents, and she could talk to her pet cat, Chirithy._

_One day, the masters of the castle were speaking of a great war. They had to prepare an army, so they recruited soldiers and knights to assist them when the time came._

_Strelitzia watched as the recruits entered and left the castle, fascinated. Most had weapons, and few had their own armor. She observed as they practiced in the courtyard, and a particular knight caught her eye. They were covered in golden armor, head to toe, with a blade of silver, a handle of amethyst. They moved swiftly, outmaneuvering their opponent effortlessly._

_Strelitzia was enamored, and she felt something tickle her head of fiery orange hair. She reached behind her ear, caressing a small green bud. Strelitzia heard about this. She loved to watch couples walk across town with their head of bright flowers displayed proudly. The princess always dreamed of falling in love, but was too shy to talk to anyone. Master Invi gave her a book about flower crowns which she found fascinating. It read,_

_‘If two should fall in love, their feelings shall bear unexplainable beauty in the shape of flowers, weaving elegantly through their hair. Buds will form when love is immature, or unrecognized. Blooms shall flower when one’s feelings become apparent, then it is time to confess to the one you cherish.’_

_Strelitzia’s favorite part was when lovers confessed. She watched upon her lonely balcony as couples exchanged their flowers, sealing their undying love with a kiss._

_The princess knew that she harbored feelings for the beautiful knight, and the small bud started to bloom, its vines wrapping around her head. Ruby-red Gloxinia flowers adorned her brilliant orange hair, but she didn’t want anyone to know about them yet. She reached for a special comb that Master Ava gave her. She remembered the words of the book clearly, ‘Be_ **_very_ ** _careful, for if one pulls these blooms out forcefully-_

Vanitas flinched in pain, dropping the book on his lap. He hadn’t noticed that his legs were drawn up to his body in suspense until a sharp pain shot through his spine. He grabbed the book again, which had closed fully. _Great, now I lost my page_ , he huffed in annoyance _._ It didn’t matter though, he just wanted to know the ending. He skimmed through the pages until he found a picture of the princess leaning on the balcony, the armored knight looking up at her. It seemed like the knight climbed the castle walls. He continued reading, unaware of Ventus stirring in his sleep,

_“Oh humble knight, I had something to tell you at the fountain many moons ago, before we had to part,” fair Strelitzia spoke._

_“As did I,” they replied. The knight pulled off their helmet, revealing curly, lavender hair. It was a beautiful girl, with pale white skin and freckles. She shook her head to display her crown of Dark Purple Roses. She looked like royalty herself. Pulling a rose gently from her head, she handed it to the princess. “Fairest Strelitzia, these roses I wear are for you alone. When I first laid eyes on you, I knew you were the one for me. That is why, my dear princess, these roses mean ‘love at first sight’”._

_The princess gasped, and quickly plucked her own flowers, placing them gently in the palm of her knight’s hand. She smiled and said, “These flowers were meant for only you, for you see, I too fell in love at first sight.” She leaned down slowly, and the knight lifted her head to meet the princess-_

“Yeah, that was my favorite story too.”

Vanitas slammed the book shut, almost crushing his fingers. He realized that he was curled in on himself, eyes practically touching the page. Ventus was at the end of his bed, smiling warmly. 

Vanitas’ heart was pounding, heat searing his cheeks. He ducked his head and looked away, and Ventus laughed kindly. “Aqua told me that it’s a true story, but I’m not so sure,” he laughed harder, “I asked Chirithy too, but they weren’t sure either. I like to think it’s real though. It’s nice to know the origins of the flower crowns.” 

“Flower crowns…?” he said hesitantly, his eyes meeting Ventus. He was smiling, his face crinkled with mirth, with _happiness._ Vanitas wishes he could have some of it. 

“Yeah! Haven’t you noticed? Couples wear them all the time,” his smile started to fade when he saw Vanitas’s confused expression, his voice lowering to a whisper, “you’ve never heard of them, have you?” he said, more of a statement than a question. 

Now that Vanitas thought about it, he _did_ see people walk around with flower crowns sometimes. It never made any sense to him, and Xehanort never told him about it, so he didn’t care before. He stared down at the book in his hands. He did have a few questions _now_ though. “What’s it like?” Vanitas said. Ventus stared at him in confusion. He corrected himself, “Love, I mean.”

Ventus’ face turned bright pink, and he scratched his head sheepishly. “Uh, w-well, I don’t--I’ve never, I mean--” he stuttered. Vanitas started to smile again. _Cute_ , he thought, and woah, where did _that_ thought come from? Now Vanitas was blushing, looking away from Ven, who was still trying to compose himself. He continued, “I-I’m no expert but, it makes people _happy_ when you’re around someone you love.”

Vanitas started to frown. _Of course. Why did everything come back to happiness?_ He could feel an unversed spawn, and Ventus jumped in his chair, obviously noticing his distress. “Vanitas, what’s wrong?”

Vanitas felt helpless as _anger_ and _rage_ washed over him in waves. Everything that happened before was coming back to him. “I DON’T UNDERSTAND! HOW CAN EVERYONE HAVE HAPPINESS WHILE I'M STUCK WITH PAIN AND DESPAIR?! _YOU_ TOOK ALL THE HAPPINESS I HAD, AND I DON’T GET WHY YOU PEOPLE ARE BEING _NICE_ TO ME NOW! DON’T YOU KNOW HOW GUILTY I AM?” he snapped, half surprised at himself. Unversed were filling the room but he just didn’t _care_ . His own self-hate and anger gnawed at him, his skin felt like it was on _fire_.

The last thing he expected was for Ventus to sit next to him on the bed. He was right at his feet, sitting criss-crossed, eyes trained on the doorway. Vanitas wanted to snap at him again. Say _something_. But he stayed silent, his body suddenly cold as ice as sweat drenched his bandages. He felt shame, but buried that deep down so another unversed wouldn’t spawn. He stole a glance at Ventus. A myriad of expressions crossed his face before he breathed deeply and looked Vanitas in the eyes.

“Anyone can have happiness, and I believe everyone _should_ have happiness,” Vanitas tried to interject, but Ventus talked over him, “AND me, Aqua, and Terra _want_ to help you. You never got the chance to live a normal life, and I _know_ ,” he started to raise his voice before Vanitas could interrupt, ”that you can think for yourself, and you made mistakes before, but you never got a chance to _learn_ from those mistakes, or be _forgiven_ for them.” He gave Vanitas a wide grin, and held his hand out. “You can be happy, you can _learn_ to be happy, and I’ll be with you every step of the way.” He shook his hand as if to say ‘well, what do you say?’ 

Vanitas looked at his Ventus’ hand, then to the book in his lap. Half of his mind was telling him that Ventus had an ulterior motive, but the other half believed him. Ventus _saved_ him, Aqua didn’t give him poisoned water, and Terra didn’t snap him in half yet. Even after all he did…

“I’m sorry...Ventus.” he whispered, his eyes glued to the children's book on his lap. “For everything.” 

Ven huffed, “I already _forgave_ you, but thank you for saying it,” he smiled widely. Vanitas looked at his outstretched hand again, and Ventus wiggled his fingers dramatically. Vanitas bit back a laugh, taking Ven’s hand in his own, marking his new beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> did I seriously write a strelitzia/player sidestory? yes, yes i did  
> also i dont mention chirithy a lot because uuuh i completely forgot about their existence heh


	3. Elderflower - Compassion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanitas gets to go clothes shopping with Aqua, Namine, and Xion. (minor Namixi)

In the following months, Ventus was able to convince Aqua and Terra to help redesign an old walk-in closet to act as Vanitas’ new bedroom. Aqua and Terra were - for the most part - supportive of Vanitas, even though he “got into trouble” a lot, and loved to raid the kitchen at 3AM. 

The four of them quickly fell into a routine with each other. They would go to different worlds together, laugh together, watch  _ movies _ together (one of Vanitas’ favorite’s), and gaze at the stars at night. Aqua even surprised him one day by giving him his own wayfinder. Ventus was overjoyed at this as he wrapped his arms around Vanitas’ neck, hugging him tightly. Vanitas tried shoving him off, sending Terra a look of distress, but his face was red as a tomato, and that only made Terra laugh harder at the situation.  _ Traitor. _

Vanitas’ body healed over time, only leaving some scars behind, and Aqua (despite Vanitas’ protests) decided to help him pick out some new clothes. Aqua told Terra that she was taking the day off with Vanitas, and Terra easily agreed to work for both of them. Ventus happily volunteered as well.

Aqua and Vanitas took the gummiship, only because Terra was still teaching Van how to use a glider. He was  _ determined  _ that Vanitas could be taught, so he agreed to it willingly. What could he say? It was funny to see Terra make a _fool_ of himself and try to figure Void Gear out. Besides, Ventus would usually stand on the sidelines watching them practice, a wide grin on his face.

Vanitas leaned on the side of the ship, arms crossed, a smile teasing his lips. Well, it was still mostly a smirk, but he was working on it.

Aqua’s loud texting brought him back to reality. She was sitting at the cockpit, eyebrows furrowed as she furiously typed something. Vanitas was losing his patience. He sighed loudly, but Aqua shushed him immediately, so he settled for tapping his foot on the ground impatiently. 

After what felt like ages, Aqua put her phone away and started the ship. “Alright Vanitas,” she said, ”I talked to Xion and Namine, and they told me about a great place to go clothes shopping in Twilight Town. They find good clothes there all the time that they look  _ fabulous _ in.” Vanitas rolled his eyes, “Now sit down” she patted the seat next to her. Vanitas groaned in protest, but did it anyway.

He remembered hearing the names Xion and Namine in passing before, but he never talked to them.  _ Do they know me? What will they think when they see me? _ He was well aware that he looked like _ the Hero of Light _ , and it always made him nervous when he met new people. That’s why he was comfortable under his helmet, where he could hide, but he didn’t want to use that anymore. It’s just another proof of the things he’d done. Besides, it would be pretty weird if he showed up wearing it. His  _ dark suit _ was bad enough. 

Vanitas exhaled shakily. He wished Ventus were here, Aqua wouldn’t understand him like Ven does. 

Breathing slowly, he tried to keep his emotions in check as Aqua steered the ship, dodging asteroids. His body felt numb the whole ride, but no unversed were spawned, so that’s progress. He barely registered Aqua’s hand on his shoulder. “Vanitas,” she chuckled lightly, “we’re here” she pointed out the window. They were in a forest. He gathered enough energy to shrug her hand away and give a small noise of acknowledgement. 

They walked through town for a while before they spotted the clothes store. It looked fancy, and there were two girls sitting outside the shop on a bench, sipping iced tea and talking to each other. One had blonde hair, with a long, white, frilly dress that went down to her ankles. The other had raven black hair - much like Vanitas, and wore a shorter charcoal colored dress with buttons that trailed down from the collar to a belt that hugged her waist. Vanitas’ eyes went back to raven girl’s hair. 

She wore a curtain of Elderflowers that splayed elegantly over her head, with delicate Forget-Me-Nots laced between bright green vines, holding the veil up. Vanitas thought it looked nice. 

The blonde, on the other hand, wore a thicker crown of purple Bellflowers in the shape of stars. Hanging down from the braided, forest green vines were curly yellow Ylang Ylangs. Vanitas thought it looked goofy, but the girl didn’t seem to mind. The flowers shook with every turn of her head, but she seemed happy with them. Vanitas was mesmerized.  _ Is this like that book I read? Are they in love? _

He wanted to ask, but they were _complete strangers_ to him. He knew it was rude to just  _ ask _ someone about their feelings, let alone  _ stare  _ at their _ heads _ the entire evening. Aqua told him once that it takes bravery to wear a crown proudly, especially with the knowledge that _everyone could see_ their emotions on display. It was the reason many people combed their blooms out. Van could understand that. He wouldn’t want anyone judging him based on what flowers grew in his hair too.

“Namine, Xion! Over here!” Aqua waved. The girls looked over at them, and the blonde’s flowers hit her in the face again. Vanitas tried not to laugh. They weren’t as elegant as the book made it out to be, but maybe that’s just how it is in real life. Messy and complicated, with nothing truly like a _ fairytale _ . Maybe he could be like the blonde girl and embrace who he is. Whoever he is... Vanitas mentally scoffed at himself.  _ I’m spending way too much time with Aqua,  _ he remarked mentally. 

Namine and Xion got up from the bench and Xion smiled at Aqua, starting a conversation with her. The blonde - Vanitas guessed was Namine - looked at him intently, a warm smile on her lips.  _ Does she want me to talk to her? _

“Uh, hi” he said eloquently. She giggled, raising her left hand to cover her mouth, the iced tea in her right shaking as she laughed.  _ Why is she laughing at me? _ He glared at her, his face set in a hard frown. 

She seemingly didn’t notice this, and extended her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Vanitas.” Van was taken aback. It was  _ nice _ to meet  _ him? _ He stared at her hand for a few seconds before hesitantly taking it in his own. 

“Likewise,” he said. His voice was strained, awkward. He didn’t know how to talk to her. After a few beats he realized that he was still shaking her hand. He let go, wiping his clammy hand on his pants. She smiled at him sympathetically. 

“It’s alright,” she said softly. Vanitas found her voice soothing. He relaxed slightly, and tried to give her a smile. It must have looked as awkward as it felt because Namine was holding back a laugh. Whatever. He’ll work on it again later…

She looked over to Xion and Aqua, who were having a conversation about makeup. Vanitas tried not to roll his eyes. Namine tapped Xion on the shoulder, “Xion,” she said lightly. 

Xion’s eyes drifted to Vanitas, and she smiled sheepishly, “Oh, I’m sorry Vanitas.” She cleared her throat, and addressed the whole group, “Is everyone ready?” He had to bite back a sarcastic ‘we’ve  _ been _ ready’, and merely nodded his head. Aqua smiled at him, not apologetic at all, and Vanitas glared at her openly. She pushed his shoulder playfully, laughing, and they followed suit behind the other girls.

Vanitas looked at their hands. Their fingers were interlocked - Xion swinging their arms in tune with their steps. They looked so happy together. Namine started skipping, and her Ylang Ylangs bounced with the movement. Vanitas curled his hand slightly, imagining what it would be like to hold Ventus’s hand. His lips were pulled into a smile, and he immediately stopped, blushing madly from his face to the tips of his ears. He didn’t know he stopped walking until Aqua grabbed him by the forearm, pulling him along. 

The inside of the store looked bigger than the outside, with mens clothing on one side and womens on the other. He could see a wall of shoes, purses, and other accessories in the back. He had to admit, this place was impressive. After reluctantly getting his own gummiphone (Chip and Dale  _ insisted _ that he get one), he always received a bunch of _random_ texts from Kingstagram about _new clothes_ or the latest _fashion_ from people he didn't know. He usually ignored them. The only reason he ever used his phone was for insulting/complaining about Aqua or Terra, or talking to Ventus when they were on separate missions. Well...it was mostly Ventus sending pictures, gushing about ‘ _ how good the food was’ _ or how he ‘ _ wished Vanitas were here’ _ . Van always felt weird and jittery after he got a text from Ventus, but he shoved it down.

Bringing him back to the present, Aqua and Xion were currently shaking his shoulders, encouraging him to look around and pick something. Vanitas grumbled but obliged, strolling toward the mens section of the store. There were a _ton_ of clothes to choose from, and he weaved in and out between displays, taking in all the options. It was a little overwhelming, so he just decided to grab a plain red hoodie and some black pants. 

Making his way through the maze of clothes, he found Xion, Namine, and Aqua looking at dresses. He tried not to roll his eyes again and cleared his throat to get their attention. They turned to him, eyeing up his choice of attire. 

“That’s IT?” Xion nearly screamed in horror. Vanitas flinched from the volume of her voice.  _ Overdramatic much? _ She looked over at Aqua and sighed, shielding her mouth with her hand, “now I know why you contacted us.” Vanitas crossed his arms.

“I’m right here you know,” he said, embarrassment eating at him. His mind was telling him to march out of the store and go home, but Namine walked up to him and grabbed the hoodie before he could leave. He was frozen in place as she inspected it.

“ _ I _ think it's a good start,” she said, “but we’ll find something else to go with it.” She looked at Aqua and Xion, “Right girls?” 

They were silent for a few seconds, until Xion spoke up. “Right Nami! There’s a dressing room in the back of the store, next to the wall of shoes,” she pointed to the wall, “Vanitas, you can go get dressed while we find something,” she winked.

Accepting his fate, Vanitas took the hoodie back from Namine and sighed. Aqua and Xion ran off somewhere, and Vanitas grabbed Namine’s wrist before she could go with them. She looked at him expectantly, clearly confused. 

Vanitas opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to find the right words. Finally he locked eyes with her and whispered a small “thank you.” The smile he received was blinding.

She bowed slightly and muttered. “You’re welcome. Now go try those on, I need to make sure _Xion_ isn’t going to make you wear the  _ plaid fedora _ that she’s been trying to get Axel to wear for weeks," she snickered. Vanitas immediately let go of her wrist and they both laughed. He felt his lips curve upwards as he laughed with her, and it actually felt _good_. She gave him one last smile before turning around and running to the others, her flowers hitting her face again. Vanitas chuckled again, and walked over to the changing rooms.

~ ~ ~

Van looked at himself in the mirror. He had to admit, the clothes were really comfortable. A little too simple? Maybe, but it felt _really_ good. He could re-summon his dark suit whenever he wanted - which was good in case of an emergency with the heartless, but he _liked_ how these new clothes felt. He heard someone knocking on all the closed doors in the changing room. “Vanitas?” They were getting closer. He opened the door and accidentally slammed it in Aqua’s face. Xion and Namine were right on her heels, and he was shocked when they started laughing at her. 

“A- _Aqua_ ,” Xion wheezed in between breaths, “you can’t just  _ ask _ where he is then press your ear to the door” she laughed. Her Elderflowers got stuck to her face, and she blew at them with what little breath she had left. 

She calmed down and addressed Vanitas, holding out a pair of shoes and what looked to be a jacket. “Here,” she said excitedly, “see if these look nice.” He wordlessly grabbed them and retreated back into the changing room.

He tried the shoes on first. They were _deep maroon_ heeled boots, with small white belt straps attached to the front and sides.  _ At least these are slip ons, _ he thought to himself. They weren’t half bad looking, and they made him feel taller. He easily decided that he liked them, and started grabbing at the belt and longcoat that were hung up next to him. 

The coat was faux-black leather, with long white stripes trailing down from his shoulders to the white cuffs at his wrists. Small black strips of leather were shaped into X’s on the inside of the cuffs, and when he looked down, he noticed there were also large white X’s painted at the bottom of the coat too. He pulled the red hood of his sweater out, and it splayed over his shoulders nicely. The boots and jacket fit him perfectly too.  _ Absolute magic _ , he thought half-mockingly. Looking in the mirror, the coat almost reminded him of one from the  _ Organization.  _ He hummed, contemplating.

Van stepped closer to the mirror, and gazed at his own reflection. His ruby-red irises would always surprise him, but he wore them proudly now. They were proof that he wasn’t controlled by a master anymore (even if Aqua was a little bossy at times). He liked this new look, he felt more comfortable and  _ confident _ . 

Still...he felt a little awkward as he opened the door to the changing room, nearly going deaf from Xion’s squealing. They were all cheering things along the lines of ‘ _ that looks great!’ _ or ‘ _ I knew those boots were a good idea’ _ or other, generally _annoying_ things. He looked outside. It seemed like it was getting late, but he remembered it was sunset when they got here. His head was starting to spin. He suddenly wanted to go home.

_ “Are you guys done?” _ he snapped at them. Xion was taken aback slightly, her mouth clamping shut. Aqua looked like she was about to smack up upside the head, but Namine stepped in again. 

“Yeah, it is starting to get a little late, and I think that employee over here is going to kill us if we don’t hurry” she pointed to a very _unenthusiastic_ girl sending them glares from the counter. It took all of Vanitas’ willpower not to glare back.

Xion immediately agreed with Namine, and Vanitas retreated into his changing room once more, folding his new clothes and changing back into his dark suit. After fighting about who would pay, Vanitas - much to the annoying employee’s dismay - changed back into his new clothes  _ again _ . They all walked out of the store, Vanitas dragging behind slightly. He looked the employee dead in the eyes and subtly flipped her off. Judging by Namine’s amused laughter however, it must not have been very subtle. He grinned back at her, only half apologetic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.deviantart.com/bluestarnights/art/KH-AU-designs-811955547
> 
> PLEASE CHECK OUT BLUESTARNIGHTS DRAWINGS i took huge inspiration from her vanitas outfit on here i c a n n o t describe clothing well so just look at this she also has other beautiful vanven art so go give her some love <3


	4. Dandelion - Faithfulness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanitas is giddy after his shopping with Aqua, but that quickly changes when he overhears a conversation between Terra and Ven...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *shrugs wildly* i know the last chapter wasnt all that interesting so i thought id add this mini-chapter today -u- 
> 
> enjoy

When Aqua and Vanitas got back to the Land of Departure, the sky was pitch-black. Only the stars lighted their path now. Aqua stopped walking, and pulled her wayfinder out of her pocket to hold it up to the sky. 

Vanitas sighed, putting on his best mock-exasperated tone, “Really Aqua? You’re so sentimental.”

She put her wayfinder back into her pocket and looked at Vanitas, a hand on her hip. “Oh yeah? Where’s  _ your  _ wayfinder?” she retorted.

“Tsk, I threw it away” he deadpanned, crossing his arms, a smile betraying his words. 

She laughed at him, and they started walking toward the castle. “Well, _you’re_ in a good mood now.” Aqua smiled at him, “Glad I took you clothes shopping?”

Vanitas scoffed, “Please, I’m just happy to be home and away from those _annoying_ girls.” He knew it was a lie, even if Xion was too loud sometimes. Before they left Twilight Town, Vanitas added Namine to his contact list on Kingstagram, and  _ only _ out of pity did he add Xion after the look of betrayal she gave him.

Aqua hummed beside him, “Yeah? I think it’s just because  _ you _ want to see what  _ Ventus  _ thinks of your new outfit.” She looked smug, her voice tainted with amusement. Vanitas tried thinking of a comeback,  _ anything at all _ , but nothing came to him. He started sputtering, embarrassment creeping up his neck and into his cheeks. He walked faster, storming into the castle. 

His stomach grumbled.  _ Oh, right, we didn’t get anything to eat in Twilight Town. _ He made his way toward the kitchen, walking down the hallway. It looked like Terra was cooking something on the stove, and Ventus was sitting on a bar stool at the counter. He was hunched over with a blanket draped over his shoulders. 

“Well what do you think I should do?

_ That was Ventus talking. _ Vanitas started walking slower. He didn’t know if it was a personal conversation, and he really did not want to get into any more embarrassing scenarios. Terra kept his eyes trained on whatever he was making and sighed deeply.

“It’s whatever you want to do, Ven, but I would get rid of them for now.” 

_ What? What’s going on? What’s wrong with Ventus? _ His walking almost came to a full stop, and he tried not to spawn an unversed in the hallway.

“Yeah, I think that’s a good idea.” He sounded disappointed. “Can I borrow your hairbrush?” 

_ A hairbrush? _ Vanitas was at a loss.  _ What were they even talking about? _ He saw Ventus use his right hand to comb through his hair. He did that a lot recently. Vanitas always wondered what it would be like to run his hands through the feathery blonde locks, with Ventus smiling at him. The thought made his chest warm. His fantasies were interrupted however by his stomach rumbling, so he started walking faster. Maybe he could ask what was wrong with Ven later.

Terra finally turned around and noticed Vanitas walking into the room. His eyes roamed Vanitas’ outfit, and his smile widened. “Oh, Vanitas! Lookin’ good!” He saw Ventus go ramrod straight at the mention of Vanitas’ name, violently turning his body around to face him. As soon as he did, his mouth went slack, lips parting into a perfect circle. His eyes scanned over Vanitas’ body, and Vanitas started to feel butterflies at the attention. He passed it off as hunger though, and started walking to the fridge, ignoring Ventus’ look of awe.

“Vanitas, I just made some late supper. Care to try some?” Terra asked. Vanitas pulled his head out of the fridge and looked at the ‘food’ that Terra made,  _ if _ he could call it that. It was a dish of waffles covered in chicken baby food, with ham pieces sprinkled on top. He looked at the abomination with a combination of disgust and wonder alike. 

“Don’t look now, but I think Ventus’  _ gray cat thing _ puked all over your waffles” he said, smirking. He rummaged through the refrigerator again, hearing Ven laugh behind him. Vanitas smiled, grateful that the fridge covered his face.

Terra looked over at him, indignant. “Well  _ I _ think it tastes good. Do  _ you _ want some, Ven?” 

Vanitas knew exactly what Ventus’ expression was without even looking at him. He never wanted to say  _ no _ to his friends, so he would give them pitiful, strange looks that tried to convey the message. Vanitas tried telling him that he could be assertive sometimes, but it just wasn’t in Ven’s nature. 

“Well, uh, I mean--I just had a bowl of cereal earlier and we ate at Prankster’s Paradise so…”

Terra laughed, “Alright, alright, I get it.” Aqua moseyed into the kitchen for a glass of water and Terra immediately perked up. “OOH, AQUA-”

“No,” Aqua said in a stern voice. “I’m not going to eat your weird  _ cat barf _ chicken and gravy concoction, Terra.” She leaned up to ruffle Terra’s hair, and his face flushed pink.  _ Tsk, what a hopeless romantic, _ Vanitas thought. He pulled out a sandwich that has been sitting in the fridge for a few days and sat it on the opposite side of the counter where Ventus was sitting. Ven wasn’t meeting Vanitas’ eyes. He seemed fixated on his bowl of cereal milk. 

“Hey,” Vanitas called. Ventus made a small noise of acknowledgement, “what’s wrong with you?” He tried playing off his concern, only because Terra and Aqua were in the room. He wouldn’t want to make them think he’s gone soft. It was bad enough with the  _ clothes shopping _ earlier. He hoped that his face showed Ventus how worried he was though, and he tried leaning forward to coax Ven into looking at him.

Ventus tilted his head to the side, his face dusted a bright pink. Vanitas noticed something green tucked behind his ear, hidden behind his spiky, honey-blonde locks. “Huh?” he whispered curiously, “What’s that?” He reached out and traced the curve of Ven’s ear with his hand, gently pushing back the tufts of hair. Ventus’ eyes closed, and he leaned into the touch. Vanitas' heart started beating faster as he saw Ven's peaceful expression. He hesitated for a brief second before moving his fingers to the... _thing_ that seemed to be stuck to Ven's hair. Vanitas frowned, and tried to pull it free. As soon as he started tugging, Ventus recoiled like he’d been burnt. He shoved himself out of the barstool he was sitting on so fast he almost fell over.

Vanitas pulled back his hand in shock, watching Ventus’ frantic eyes. “UH,” Ven squeaked a little too loudly, which got Terra and Aqua’s attention. “It’s getting late, and we have our own missions tomorrow, so I have to get ready for that,” he started to walk backwards out of the kitchen, _“Illseeyouguyslaterbye!”_ Ven turned around and ran out of the room. 

Vanitas turned to look at Terra. “What was that all about?” he said, half suspicious and half hurt at Ventus’ actions. He wanted to know why Ven was acting so strange around him lately. It felt like he was always avoiding him now, or always having  _ something  _ else he had to attend to. What did Vanitas do wrong? 

Terra seemed a little nervous, fidgeting around and pulling at that collar of his shirt. Vanitas crossed his arms before Terra looked at him again confidently. Vanitas was pretty sure he could _ hear _ the lightbulb go off in Terra’s brain. “ _Well_ , that’s something I wanted to talk to you about.” He turned around and tapped Aqua’s shoulder to get her attention as well. “Some new worlds have opened up, but me and Ven think that the heartless have been invading them. Something about ‘dark forces’ in the worlds pulling them there. We each need to scout a world and see for ourselves. Sound good?” he looked at Aqua, who nodded feverishly. Her mouth was stuffed with baby carrots and ranch dip.  _ Gross. _ Terra looked at Vanitas, who just shrugged his shoulders. He wasn’t stupid. He knew that Terra was tip-toeing around Vanitas’ question, but he let it go anyway. 

“Alright” Van said non committedly, leaving the room. He was done with this conversation. 

Walking through the halls, he stopped at his bedroom door. A little further down, he could see Ventus in Terra’s room, looking for something.  _ Probably Terra’s hairbrush, _ he thought. He wanted to go and confront Ventus, but it wouldn’t work, he knew that. Cornering Ventus would only make him panic, and he wanted to respect Ven’s privacy. He would come to Vanitas in his own time, right?

Vanitas breathed harshly through his nose, retreating to his bedroom for the night. He took off his boots and jacket, and fell on his twin-sized bed unceremoniously. The ceiling was covered in glow-in-the-dark stars. Taking deep breaths, he closed his eyes, remembering the day Terra, Aqua, and Ventus helped decorate his room for the first time. Ventus _ insisted _ that he put the stars on the ceiling so Vanitas’ room wouldn’t be “dark and gloomy.” His room didn’t have a window like Ventus’ did, which often resulted in Ventus knocking on his door late at night, demanding that he watch a meteor shower or something else _‘incredible’_ that Vanitas just  _ had  _ to see. 

Normally, he would pretend that he was fast asleep when Ventus knocked, but in reality some days - well, most days - he would lie awake at night, staring at the ceiling, _waiting_ for him. Ven would always knock at the door, his voice hushed but excited as he called for Vanitas to get up. 

Sometimes, however, Ventus would just stand at the door, shuffling his weight from side to side nervously. Vanitas would watch the outline of his feet under the crack of the door, rocking back and forth for a few minutes before hearing a quiet, meek tapping against the wood. 

Vanitas had to refrain from jumping at the door immediately, giving it a few seconds before walking across the room. When he opened the door, Ventus would just stand there, looking down shyly. Vanitas often wondered if Ventus had his own share of nightmares, and it made his heart ache knowing he could be the one to cause them. On nights like those, Vanitas would grab Ven’s wrist gently, wordlessly, and walk outside, laying them down shoulder to shoulder as they silently watched the stars together. He relished in the pure, unadulterated _trust_ that Ventus gave him on those quiet, starry nights.

Vanitas breathed out slowly, closing his eyes. A small grin teased his lips as he drifted off into sleep, dreaming of princesses, knights, and purple roses.


	5. Red Carnation - Heartache

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanitas prepares himself for his new mission, but learns something shocking...

Vanitas woke to the sound of a clumsy giant running back and forth down the hall.  _ Terra _ . He groaned and forced himself into a sitting position. It was morning.  _ Ventus didn’t want to watch the stars with me last night… _ He rubbed his eyes and sighed. Getting up slowly, he made his way to the bathroom. His face almost smashed into the closed door as he rounded the corner. The light was on and he could hear noises inside.  _ What the hell? _

_ “Whatever _ ” he grumbled as he walked down the hall, reaching the kitchen. Terra was in there, as per usual, doing  _ who-knows-what  _ and  _ who-even-cares.  _ Vanitas grabbed what he assumed to be Terra’s coffee mug from the counter and started drinking from it, the bitter liquid waking him up instantly.

He could hear Terra chuckle behind him. “Hey, you know I didn’t even put any sweeteners into that right?” Vanitas looked down at the black coffee in the mug.  _ Huh, well that explains something. _ “Good morning, by the way. Don’t forget we’re all leaving soon to go check out those new--” Terra gasped “VANITAS!” He screamed loudly.

Vanitas spit out the coffee he was drinking, turning to face Terra who looked like he’d just won the lottery. “What is wrong with-” Terra immediately cut him off, searching Vanitas’ spiky hair with his hands, like he was an ape searching for fleas. “Hey, hey! Knock it off--what are you doing?!” Vanitas started swatting above his head, slapping Terra’s hands away. 

Terra didn’t even look fazed as he smiled widely. “Vanitas,” he whispered excitedly, “you’re  _ budding _ .” 

Oh.  _ OH. _ Vanitas reached for his hair and felt the intertwined vines that wrapped around his head. His eyes widened in realization, and Terra had his hands on his hips, still smiling down at him. Vanitas didn’t know how to process this. Buds meant  _ feelings _ .  _ Feelings _ that he’s been trying so hard to push down.  _ Feelings _ that seem to spawn unversed  _ everywhere _ . And now these  _ feelings _ have spawned as stupid little buds in his hair. If Terra was going to act smiley and creepy like he was now, what was  _ Aqua _ going to say.  _ What would Ventus say? Vanitas' _ legs started shaking slightly.  _ Ven… _

“U-uh, Vanitas?” Terra said, clearly panicking. Van pried his eyes open, not sure when he closed them in the first place, and looked around. Unversed were crawling all over the furniture, some flying around. Vanitas tried channeling them back into himself, but there were just _too many_. He was still overwhelmed. He gritted his teeth, steeling himself.

“Just kill them” he forced out.

Terra looked at him, incredulous. “But--”

“ _ Just do it _ ” Van called out, his voice stern but _quiet_. The last reasonable part of his brain was still aware that Aqua, Ventus, and -  _ god forbid - _ Chirithy were still walking around the castle, getting ready for their missions. The last thing he wanted was for _them_ to see his stupid buds. 

Summoning Void Gear, he carefully got rid of each and every unversed, with Terra hesitantly following behind. With every swipe of a keyblade, his mind felt clearer until the  _ anxiety _ or  _ embarrassment  _ snapped back at full force, making him disoriented. He had to brace himself on a wall as Terra finished off the last hareraiser. 

“Hey…” Terra said gently. He placed a hand on his shoulder, grounding him. “Don’t throw up on me now” he chuckled lightly. 

Vanitas scoffed, “I’m not going to  _ puke _ ...I just…” he looked off to the side, taking his hand off the wall. 

Terra seemed to nod in understanding. “Listen, I know how confusing and embarrassing budding is. You want to know a secret?” he leaned down to whisper to Vanitas, “I’ve had buds since all the hullabaloo with _Xehanort._ I guess I just met _someone_ out there in the universe that I love...but I can’t remember” he sighed dramatically. 

Vanitas’ eyes met Terra’s, a teasing smirk forming on his lips. “Pff, please, it’s just cause’  _ you _ can’t see what’s right in front of your face, lover boy. You should let your buds grow out, I’m sure  _ Aqua _ would be  _ dying _ to see them.” 

It worked like a charm. Terra’s face flushed a dark shade of pink all the way down to his neck. He started sputtering nonsense, looking at everything except Vanitas. As much as Van _loved_ teasing Terra, he needed to know how to dispose of these buds before anyone else sees them.

Vanitas coughed, “So Terra, is there, uh, any way that I can  _ get rid of these stupid buds without any evidence _ ?” he hissed.

“Huh? Why would you-- ooh, OOOH” his eyes widened comically. “Sorry, sorry yeah. I can give you my hairb--…” he stopped mid sentence. “Err, uh” he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. 

Vanitas sighed, aware that Terra’s brush was probably _now_ in the possession of Ventus. “So,  _ genius _ , what now?”

“Well, you could use Aqua’s comb secretly, and when I go on my mission I could pick you up your own brush if you want?” he suggested. 

“Yeah, that would be okay.” Vanitas started walking out into the hall, stopping at the doorway. He looked back at Terra, who was refilling his coffee mug. “Uh, Terra...thank you” he said genuinely, trying to flash his best smile. 

Terra waved back, “No problem! Just make sure you don’t get caught. I think Aqua might have left by now, but be careful. Also! Let me know if your flowers start blooming, you can always talk to me! We’re bud buddies now!” 

Vanitas glared back at him, wishing he would have just kept his mouth shut and not said _'thank you'_ at all.

“Never, and I mean  _ never _ , call me that again.” 

Terra lazily waved back, preoccupied with his coffee. “Aye aye, captain.” 

Vanitas scoffed, slowly sneaking his way down the halls. Aqua’s bedroom was to the left of his own, so he wouldn’t have to travel back and forth throughout the castle to get rid of the stupid buds. Vanitas could feel himself getting angry. It wasn’t  _ fair. _ Why should he have to go through this? It’s just another emotion he has to suppress and push down.  _ Love _ , Vanitas mentally hissed the word. Even if he  _ did _ love someone, who would love him  _ back _ . 

Vanitas’ heart ached. He couldn’t stop a flood from spawning. He could only stare in horror as the flood slithered across the floor, making its way into Ventus’ room.  _ It’s fine,  _ he thought to himself, _ Ventus probably left already.  _ Forcing his shoulders to relax, he made his way past Ven's door. Vanitas’ room was right across the hall (something Ventus suggested), so Van hoped that he could slither past, get into Aqua’s room, grab the comb, slink back into his own room, and dispose of his crown of buds. Vanitas put a hand over his heart, willing it to  _ calm down. _

Vanitas heard something move in Ventus’ room.  _ Please tell me that’s just the flood. Please tell me that’s just the flood.  _ He could see Ventus’ shadow getting bigger as he walked closer and closer to the hall. Vanitas felt like he was going to either collapse or puke. Maybe both.

“Oh, hey little guy,” Ven whispered softly to the little unversed. Vanitas could see Ven's shadow growing closer to the hall. He felt frozen in place, unsure what to do next.

“Van?...Vanitas, are you alright?” he called out with so much genuine concern that it made Vanitas’ heart drop, guilt seeping its way into his body. His knees were shaking. He desperately wanted to go up to Ven and talk to him, but he was also too afraid to show him the buds in his hair. 

“Oh, hey- OUCH! Quit that!” Ven huffed in annoyance. Vanitas could see the outline of the flood climbing Ventus’ back.  _ Now’s my chance. _

Vanitas sprinted down the hallway, throwing Aqua’s door open and slamming it shut quickly. His heart was beating out of his chest as he frantically searched for Aqua’s hair comb. Her room was almost bare, everything neat and organized.  _ “Dammit Aqua” _ , he muttered under his breath. The top of her dresser was  _ bare _ , her nightstand was  _ bare _ , and her vanity was-

_ Wait a minute. _ Vanitas walked over to the vanity. A small wooden box engraved with Aqua’s keyblade sat to the left of the mirror.  _ A jewelry box _ . He sighed in relief, and opened it immediately. A pink, plastic comb layed neatly on top of the pile of jewelry Aqua owned. 

Vanitas got to work, taking the tip of the thick, almost sharp bristles and pulling away a vine. The buds pulled away easily between the teeth of the comb, and Vanitas took them into his hands. He tried looking around for a trashcan, but there were none. He growled in frustration, piling the shriveling plants on the vanity. 

He was halfway done when he heard a gentle knock on the door. “Van,” Ventus said quietly. Vanitas’ blood ran cold, his heart thumping with renewed vigor. “I...know you’re in there. Aqua left for her mission like 20 minutes ago. Can we talk?”

Vanitas felt a pang of anger, his temper flaring up again. He chuckled dryly, “Well you certainly haven’t wanted to talk to  _ me _ this past  _ week _ ,” he said bitterly. “Give me one reason why  _ I _ should talk to  _ you? _ ” 

“I-” Ventus squeaked, his voice breaking, and  _ oh no.  _ Vanitas started to feel guilty again. He didn’t think he could take Ventus crying. Before he could say anything, Ventus spoke up. “I know I’ve been a terrible friend recently” he muttered. Vanitas crept toward Ven’s voice, leaning his back against the closed door between them. Something about the word “friend” sent something up his spine, making him shiver. Was it anger?  _ Disappointment? _ “Vanitas, I  _ promise  _ you there’s a reason I haven’t been watching the stars with you at night, or I haven’t been there to wake you up in the mornings-” Vanitas blushed behind the closed door. He would never admit it, but the days when Ven woke him up in the morning were his favorite. He would scramble across the hall and pound on Vanitas’ door, singing a chipper  _ ‘Good morning~!’  _ It made Vanitas smile just knowing that Ven would wake  _ him _ up before Terra or Aqua, but recently he hasn’t done it at all. He frowned, forcibly bringing himself back to the present. Ventus was still talking.

“-I’m just...going through something right now. I  _ promise _ , I’ll talk to you about it later...w-when I’m ready, okay?” his last word fell into a whisper.  _ It seemed like Ventus was ready to talk to  _ Terra _ about it, _ his mind helpfully reminded him. Was Ven not comfortable talking to  _ him _ ? He couldn’t blame Ven. Vanitas knew he was a terrible person. “Van?” Ventus whispered. He sighed, unclenching his jaw. 

“Alright,” he said softly, “just... know that you can always talk to me, okay? I don’t show it much but,” Vanitas swallowed around his dry throat. “I really do care about you, so…” he trailed off. Words were never his specialty. That was always Ven’s thing, even though right now he sounded like a _babbling fish out of water_. Vanitas smiled at the thought of Ventus with a fish head, his hands splayed on the back of the door as his weight leaned against it.

“Yeah,” Ventus whispered, chuckling slightly, “You don’t know how much those words mean to me. Thanks Vanitas.” They sat in a comfortable silence for a few moments, before Ven spoke up again. “I think I should head out now, I told Chirithy to wait for me at the stairs,” he laughed. “I’m going to get an earful.” Vanitas could hear him start to walk away from the door, before he called out. “Oh, and tomorrow I was wondering if you wanted to...” 

“Hm?” Vanitas hummed in acknowledgement.

Ventus cut himself off, “Uh, actually, nevermind! I’ll catch up with you later Vanitas. I WON’T TELL AQUA YOU WERE MESSING AROUND WITH HER MAKEUP!” he yelled as he ran down the hall.

Vanitas had to chuckle.  _ Of course Ventus would think I’m doing that. _ His eyes roamed back to the vanity where his pile of buds sat innocently.  _ Right. Buds. _ Pushing himself off the door, he finished pulling out every single bud, and flushed them down the toilet. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ah to be two stupid dorks in love, eh?


	6. Starflower - Courage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanitas finds himself in a new, post-apocalyptic world.

The castle was empty. Vanitas suspected that Terra left for his mission. He sighed,  _ I guess I’m the last one to leave. _ Walking down the front stairs, he decided to try using his own glider. Practice with Terra had been far from successful, and Terra decided to “take a break” from teaching Van for a little while. He knew what that meant though, it was just a nice way of saying  _ ‘you’re unteachable Vanitas and you’ll probably never learn how to use a glider.’ _

Vanitas’ jaw locked again, his teeth grinding together.  _ No. That’s something Xehanort would say, never Terra. _ Everyone reminded Vanitas countless times that he  _ wasn’t  _ a failure, and they  _ cared _ for him, but Vanitas always had that voice in the back of his mind telling him that he could  _ always do better _ or how  _ it’s never enough. _

He clenched his fist, summoning Void Gear. Terra told him that he had to ‘be in tune’ with his keyblade, but Vanitas always had a hard time with that. How could he be at peace with a keyblade that hurt so many people?  _ It wasn’t the keyblade’s fault, it was yours, _ the voice in his head mocked. 

He started shaking slightly, looking down at Void Gear. The voice was right this time. It wasn’t the keyblade, it was him. Even after all this time, all the reassurance that he’s gotten that he’s been  _ forgiven _ and  _ cared about _ , he just can’t come to terms with the things he’s done in the past, or learn to accept who he is in the present _. _

With a heavy breath, he looked at his reflection on the keyblade, his red eyes a direct contrast to the blue ones before him. He frowned, trying to shove his emotions to the side, like he always did.  _ Whatever, _ he told himself, summoning a dark portal. Stepping through, he squashed a scrapper that he hadn’t realized he created, letting  _ failure _ and  _ uncertainty _ seep into his bones.

~ ~ ~

He was surrounded by nothing. Well, nothing but mountains of trash anyways. Vanitas looked around the barren wasteland. The atmosphere seemed post-apocalyptic, and reminded him of the  _ Badlands _ . A thick layer of dust covered the ground in sheets, and the more Vanitas walked, the more the dust kicked up. He coughed into his arm as the wind blew a fresh layer of dust into his eyes and mouth. Vanitas kept walking as he summoned his dark suit and helmet. 

_ What happened to this place? _

He nearly jumped out of his skin when a bright illuminated sign flared to life next to him. It was a hologram, with the initials “BNL” on it.  _ Wait a minute… _ He looked back to the worn down sign on an abandoned shopping center. 

“Buy-N-Large” it wrote.

_ Interesting, but what am I supposed to  _ do _ here? _ Right on cue, some heartless appeared. 

“Ugh, nuisances. Get out of my way!” he yelled. Summoning Void Gear, he made quick work of them. As he continued forward, encountering a few more waves of Large Bodies and Possessors, he started to hear a distant tune from the nearby rusty speakers. He continued toward the sound of their broken melody.

_ “Put o-on your Sunnn-day clo-othes the-eer-zzz lots of w---ld out zzz-there-!”  _

Vanitas cringed as the radio turned to pure static, nothing but intelligible, broken phrases echoing through the dry air. He looked at the sun, which was difficult to see through the thick haze of smog. He sighed.  _ It looks like the day is almost over already. What is the passage of time like here? _ His mind turned as foggy as the air around him as he tried to recollect where the sun was positioned when he first arrived.  _ The day couldn’t already be over, could it? Should I head back?  _

He raised his hand, and summoned a portal. He didn’t move towards it, he  _ couldn’t _ move at all. His legs felt rooted in place as he blankly stared at the dark tendrils wavering in front of him. How was he supposed to come home and say that his mission was a total  _ failure? _ He cringed at the word. Xehanort’s looks of disappointment and  _ repulsion _ when Vanitas wasn’t successful at a task always haunted him. He had to keep reminding himself that Xehanort was gone, and he couldn’t be used anymore. Just as he numbly took a step forward, an explosion was heard in the distance. Van whipped his head around and saw a massive mushroom cloud forming overhead a burning cargo ship. 

_ Maybe my mission won’t be a waste afterall. I’ve still got time, _ he thought to himself. Summoning his keyblade, he rode it like a ‘hoverboard’, as Ventus once called it. He left the portal behind, kicking up dust as he rode past mountains of sand and abandoned buildings. As he got closer to the explosion, he briefly noticed that some piles of junk were shaped into neat, small cubes.  _ What the hell is going on? _

He reared to a stop when he found the source of the explosion. A gentle fire was eating at the ship, which seemed to have a gaping hole in the side of it. He started walking around a mound of dirt until he heard voices. He ducked down, peering around the side. His mouth fell open.

Right in front of him were two tiny robots. Two, itsy-bitsy robots that Vanitas could punt kick out of existence and be done with.  _ If these are the sources of the darkness…  _ he started to walk over to them, but stopped when he saw an expression of mirth on the sleek robots...face? He crouched down again, taking in their appearance. The slim robot was completely white, with a black screen that projected blue, expressive eyes. They had hovering arms that stayed close to their body, and a head that seemed to float magically as well. 

The stumpy robot next to them, however, looked more worn down and rustic. They were made of well-worn metal and gears, with eyes that reminded Vanitas of binoculars. Rusty, metal binoculars, that is. 

“Directive?” the tall robot asked eagerly to the short one.

The stumpy robot clapped its hands and whirled around to a pile of trash lying on the ground. It scooped it up into a little compartment in its body and spit it out into a cube. _Well,_ Vanitas thought, _that explains the piles of garbage._ _If this tiny robot has just been doing_ that _, how could it be evil?_

He didn’t sense any dark presence in the area, which was strange for how creepy the atmosphere was around him. He listened again.

“Derr-ective?” the shorter robot asked in a broken voice. The tall robot became cold suddenly, and looked away, going stiff.

“Classified,” they said in a stern tone. Loosening up slightly, they turned around and asked cautiously, “Naaame?” They scanned the smaller robot as they were thinking of an answer.

“Wuh, Ooo-Ahhll-E,” they said as best as they could. 

“Wall-e” the tall robot mirrored in a much clearer voice. Vanitas saw the short robot - Wall-e, visibly swoon. He had to suppress a short chuckle.  _ If robots could grow blooms, his would sprout right here and now. _

“Eeeeve” the tall robot droned out their name. 

The little robot rolled closer to Eve, and lifted its head as he tried to imitate the sound. “Eeeeaaah-” 

Eve chuckled, and started reciting her name until Wall-e got it  _ half _ right. Vanitas’ jaw ached, and he reached up to touch his mouth. He was  _ smiling _ at their antics. Somehow, this made him smile even more as he watched the two robots chatter back and forth. 

Good things couldn’t last forever though, and Vanitas heard a low rumbling from the distance. He turned his head and saw a large dust cloud barreling toward them. His heart rate picked up, and he stood to attention. Wall-e seemed to be aware of the danger before Eve, and she turned around too late. The storm was already upon them.

Vanitas ran to cover Wall-e and Eve with a barrier, but it could only last so long before the small bullet-like pieces of gravel penetrated through it. He gave up, feeling exhausted, and weakly attempted to shield his head with his hands. Vanitas could barely hear Eve’s cries for Wall-e as his dark suit was quickly torn by flying debris and sharp rocks. His helmet was starting to crack. Screaming in pain, he wildly looked around for the robots. He felt a tug on his leg, and was quickly dragged into a safe haven. 

Falling to the floor, he coughed violently as shards of glass fell from his helmet.  _ Not again, _ he distantly thought. He looked up to see Wall-e staring at him curiously, and Eve pointing a gun in his face. Vanitas cleared his dry throat as best he could, and spoke.

“I’m...Vanitas.” he said raggedly. Eve’s arm didn’t move, but her head tilted slightly. Wall-e moved forward, extending his arm.

“Ooo-Ahhll-E” he said, his head bobbing with the syllables. Vanitas shook his hand.

“Thank you,” he said, wheezing slightly. “For saving me.” It was getting hard to breathe. Was that from the dust? Or the lack of oxygen? 

Wall-e nodded, spreading his arms out as if to say ‘welcome to my home!’ Vanitas had to smile, he was extremely cheerful for a robot living in  _ these _ conditions. Wall-e moved to the front of the ship, and switched on strings of multicolored lights. He beckoned Eve to follow him, and she lowered her gun, squinting apprehensively at Vanitas before complying.

He looked around the room as Wall-e showed Eve some trinkets. It was...impressive, to say the least. Tons of old junk were organized into shelves, and Vanitas whistled, amazed.  _ So this is what he’s been doing all this time? _

He brushed himself off and dematerialized his dark suit. Wall-e and Eve seemed to be fixated on a lightbulb, so Vanitas moved out of their way and leaned on the side of the ship. He heard the pitter-patter of small footsteps beside him, and stared at a table with a small twinkie on it.  _ I  _ am _ hungry,  _ he thought as he reached for it. Just as he took a bite, a small cockroach poked its head out of the side. 

Vanitas sputtered as he violently threw the twinkie back on the table. The cockroach didn’t seem affected as it buried its way into the mess of golden cake and cream again. He shuddered.  _ Disgusting. _

Van watched as Wall-e searched for something on one of the rotating shelves. He noticed that Wall-e had extra replacements for gears and missing parts.  _ He’s scrappy, _ Vanitas thought. Wall-e started humming as he faced Eve, his ‘eyebrows’ wiggling with the tune on the television. 

Vanitas recognized it. It was the song that played on the speakers in that abandoned town. Vanitas watched as brightly dressed dancers flooded the screen, singing their cheerful song. It was stupid. A stupid, silly musical, but Vanitas was happy watching them. He looked back at the two robots, who seemed to be playing with a lighter. Vanitas should probably be worried, and maybe it was the lack of oxygen talking, but he wasn’t scared of them burning anything at all. 

Eve’s eyes seemed to be transfixed on the small flame that flickered back and forth. Vanitas didn’t understand. They just watched a whole ship burst into flames and  _ explode _ , but  _ this _ is what she’s fascinated with? Wall-e watched Eve’s expression with something akin to awe, or maybe it was fondness. Or was it love? Vanitas could never understand emotions. He tried desperately  _ not _ to, numbing himself to not make any unversed. That was his goal...

He barely registered the happy melody on the television turn into something different. He looked over at the screen. Gentle, slow singing was coming from a duet, a girl with flashy Red Roses tangled in her updo, and a man with Purple Mallows strung up by one small vine, drooping over his face slightly. 

Vanitas stared wide-eyed at the screen. Eve seemed to share in his curiosity, slowly hovering in front of the television as well. The man with the Purple Mallows took the woman’s hand delicately in his own. Vanitas couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like to be a part of his love story, strolling along without a care in the world, holding the hand of the one you cherish. His thoughts wandered to Ventus again, and what it would be like to hold  _ his  _ hand. Face ablaze, he got swept away into the couples’ world, watching as they leisurely swayed to the beat of their song.

_ “And that is all _

_ That love’s about” _

_ “And we’ll recall _

_ When time runs out” _

_ “That it only, took a moment _

_ To be loved… _

_ A whole, _

_ Life,  _

_ Long.” _

As their song came to a close, Vanitas started to feel homesick. He didn’t care if his mission was a failure anymore, it was getting late.  _ I should text Ven, _ he decided. Reaching for his back pocket, he flinched as the pad of his finger touched something sharp.  _ Oh no, no no nonono. _

Heedfully reaching for the phone, he pulled it out of his jacket and groaned.  _ Just as I thought. _ He stared at his own broken reflection before him, a rock piercing through the screen, fracturing the glass in a million different directions. It wouldn’t turn on. It was completely busted. 

Vanitas snarled, a displeased growl rising from the back of his throat.  _ I might as well just go back home now,  _ he said in his mind. Just as he held out his hand, a whirring noise came from behind. “ _ Now _ what,” he hissed.

Van turned around, watching Eve’s body shake like a washing machine as a-- _ was that a shoe with a plant in it? _ \--got pulled into her. The lights were starting to get brighter, buzzing with electricity. Before Vanitas could panic, Eve’s screen turned blank and her arms retracted, falling to the floor with a resounding  _ thump. _ Vanitas moved around to inspect her. She looked completely lifeless save for a glowing green logo in the corner of her chest. For a second, there was no sound other than the thrumming of the logo, almost like the beating of a heart. 

Wall-e didn’t take it very well though, and started shaking Eve’s stationary form. “Eva…?” he called forlornly. Vanitas stood behind him, trying to stay emotionless as the small robot shook her more, trying to call out to her. “ _ Eva… EVA!”  _ he looked frustrated. 

  
Vanitas watched as Wall-e pulled her outside, above his home, not knowing what to do. Vanitas sat beside him, his feet dangling off the side of the container, deep in thought.  _ Something has to happen to Eve.  _ Someone _ must have brought her here for the boot, which means  _ someone _ will be back for her. I just need to play the waiting game.  _ If there was one thing Vanitas was known for, it’s determination. Or maybe stubbornness, in Aqua’s words. He just hoped it wouldn’t take long for something to happen…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wall-e world baby 
> 
> wall-e and eve always melt my heart their dynamic is amazing


	7. Acacia - Humanity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanitas finds himself lost on space, stuck on a strange ship with service bots and lazy humans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok so this chapter is a little bit longer than the others but ohhh well

Minutes melted into hours, and hours blended into days. Or maybe only one day went by, Vanitas wasn’t sure. The sun was blocked by rain clouds, and Vanitas felt a fat droplet of water fall on his cheek. It was going to storm soon. He set out a glass jar to collect the water, and decided to take a quick nap. He woke up bleary-eyed to see a depressed Wall-e tugging on a strand of lights that were tied around Eve’s waist. He took her _everywhere,_ wondering when she’ll wake up. Vanitas couldn’t help but think of Ven when he saw Eve’s comatose state. He frowned hard as he pushed himself off the unforgiving ground, stretching his back. 

Wall-e whistled, and Vanitas looked back at his curious eyes. “What is it?” he asked. Wall-e zoomed around Vanitas, and tried reaching for his head. After he realized it was futile, he zipped over to one of his shelves, where he found a half-broken mirror. 

He held it up to Vanitas, making a small “ta-da” noise and flourish. Vanitas took the mirror and held it up to his face. He groaned in annoyance. _The buds are back._ He stared at himself in the mirror, reaching for his hair, twisting one of the vines between his fingers. It made his scalp itch, but not in an unpleasant way. _That’s strange._ Before he could do anything else, Wall-e was shoving a dirty hairbrush in his face. 

Vanitas delicately grabbed it between his pointer finger and thumb, mindful of the filth covering the handle. “Thank you, uh, Wall-e.” he said, truly grateful. The small robot nodded, seemingly pleased with himself, before taking Eve back outside. Vanitas tapped the brush on the side of the ship, releasing all the trapped dirt inside. He held the mirror in one hand, the brush in the other. 

He raised it to his crown, one of the bristles tucked behind a vine, ready to tear. He gripped the mirror tighter, and the hand holding the brush shook. _Just tear it out!_ \- he screamed at himself. But...he didn’t want to. He stared at the buds in his hair. They looked bigger. What did _that_ mean? 

No matter how much he tried to repress it, the question of _‘Who am I in love with?’_ always echoed in the back of his mind. It was a constant fight of whether he should think about it, or try to shove it away. He wanted guidance, but he didn’t want to talk to people. So, he figured, he’ll just have these buds forever. That didn’t seem so bad, right? He would just have to check for buds every day of his life, which means that he’d have to stay away from people in the mornings...or late at night. His hands shook violently, white knuckles gripping the brush. _That would mean...no more watching the stars at night with Terra, Aqua, and_ Ven _…_

The only other option would be to find the person he _loved,_ and hoped they loved him _back._ _Right-_ the pessimistic voice in his head mocked endlessly - _and who would care about you? What have you ever done to deserve someone’s love?_

Vanitas breathed in sharply. He could feel the unversed rolling off his back, hissing at the sun. He didn’t try to stop them. Anger and frustration dug into his skin, and in one clean strike he snapped the vines of his crown. He tore off every single bud with a frenzy of rage, tears of frustration rolling down his cheeks. Vines shriveled at his feet as he threw the mirror down, summoning Void Gear to dispose of the unversed he made. 

Looking at the mess around him, he wiped the tears off his face and grabbed a broom from one of the shelves, sweeping away the dead plants and shattered glass. He wanted to be comforted. He wanted to be _home_ . _Why can’t something just happen already?_

Just as he sat down at the edge of the ship, he saw something bright flashing in the sky, getting bigger. _Me and my big mouth…_ He stood up and shielded his eyes with his hand as he stared at a large shuttle landing on the dry ground, kicking up a cloud of dust. Vanitas coughed harshly as the dust assaulted his lungs. When he opened his teary eyes, he could see a claw reaching out for something. _Eve,_ he thought, _it’s coming for Eve._ He bolted around the ship and started climbing. 

Eve was still hovering where Wall-e last left her, right above his home. Vanitas heard a mechanical whistle as the claw fit securely around Eve’s body, pulling her back. Just as Vanitas climbed Wall-e’s house, the claw stopped. A giant scanner appeared and traced over Vanitas’ body, then retracted. A large wailing came from the machine, and another claw started to come for _him._

_‘Human! Human!’_ a robotic voice cried. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Vanitas could see a panicked Wall-e rolling toward the shuttle. A wall of heartless spawned around it like a forcefield, and Wall-e curled in on himself, shaking. Vanitas leapt onto the claw-like machine and blasted a few bizzaga’s at the large-bodies and defenders. 

“WALL-E!” he shouted. “GO! I GOT YOU COVERED!” 

Wall-e’s head started to come out of its shell as he noticed that the imminent threats in front of him were frozen solid. He squeezed between the heartless’ legs and jumped on the side of the shuttle. Vanitas was being dragged toward the ship along with Eve, until the claw he was standing on moved upward. It was starting to get hard to breathe. 

“W-wait,” he wheezed, getting dizzy. He couldn’t do anything but hold on tighter as he was dragged to a compartment near the top. Everything felt like it was going agonizingly slow, and Vaintas’ vision started becoming blurry. He got one last look at Wall-e climbing the ship until, mercifully, his world went black.

~ ~ ~

The only thing he could see when he opened his eyes was gray. Gray walls, a gray table, a gray bed. He had no idea where he was.

_“Good morning!”_ a feminine voice called out next to him. Vanitas moved the blankets that were covering him as he turned over. He came face to face with a gray alarm clock that had large, holographic eyes. 

_“GAH”_ he shouted, falling off the bed. As soon as he hit the ground, steward kiosks burst through the door with sirens and blinking _caution_ lights. 

_“Please remain stationary. A service bot will be here to assist you momentarily.”_

“What?” Vanitas mumbled, picking himself off the ground. The robots wailed louder, and Vanitas kicked one with the heel of his foot. “Ow!” he cried, staring at his bare feet. “WHAT HAPPENED TO MY CLOTHES?!” 

Looking down at himself, he noticed that his normal clothes were replaced with some kind of red jumpsuit. It had the initials “BNL” logo’d right above his chest. Fuming, Vanitas barreled outside, ignoring the robotic cries of the kiosks, and looked to where two hovering robots were cleaning his jacket. He stormed up to them and grabbed his jacket, hoodie, and pants. 

“ _Where_ are my _boots_ ,” he snapped at them, only hanging on to a thread of calmness. One of the robots, shaking in fear, pointed to some Eve probes, which seemed to be killing multiple heartless. Grumbling, he fired a dark fira spell and dispersed the shadows quickly. He faced one of the robots, locking eyes with them. “Do you. have. my. _boots._ ”

They pointed to _another_ helper bot which seemed to be polishing them. Growling, he yanked his boots out of the robots care, putting them on. 

Not knowing where to go, he stepped out into a large tunnel which was full of traffic, hugging the wall so he wouldn’t be flattened by the hundreds of robots passing back and forth. When he reached the end, he found himself in a place full of other humans. He squinted as they zoomed by, noticing that they were _very_ out of shape, lazily reclining on their chairs, talking to other friends on holographic screens while drinking from a large cup. _What happened? Where am I?_

“Excuse me?” he asked politely to a lady passing by. Ven always told him that he needed to work on being nicer, so he’s been trying his hardest. The lady, however, kept moving, ignoring Van completely. 

He tried waving in front of someone else. “ _Excuse_ me?” he asked a little more impatiently. Again, they ignored him. Vanitas was starting to get frustrated, but he buried that emotion down so he wouldn’t spawn a flood and get himself in trouble. Getting the attention of these people was hopeless. He looked around what he _assumed_ to be the main plaza, but only signs with the logo “BNL” were displayed. There were no directions in sight.

He wandered around for a while, screaming out for Wall-e and Eve since nobody was paying attention to him anyways. He walked past a room of toddlers being taught by an android. The static voice droned, _“A is for Axiom, your home-sweet-home. B is for Buy-N-Large, your very best friend.”_

Vanitas frowned. The source of the darkness must be coming from _somewhere_ on this ship. He just needed to find out _who_ or _what_ was causing it _._ He sighed, staring off the edge of the balcony. A few floors below him, a lady and a man were playing near the pool, kicking water with their feet _. They aren't engrossed in their screens._ Vanitas gasped, and ran down as fast as he could, screeching to a halt in front of them, out of breath.

The lady acknowledged him first. “Oh my, who are you?” she looked him over. “You’re...standing?” she asked, incredulous. The man next to her seemed to be just as shocked, his jaw dropping to the floor. 

Vanitas spoke as soon as he found his breath. “Uh, yeah. Look, I’m not from here-”

“NOT FROM HERE?!” the woman shrieked. One of the robots told them to keep it down, and the man kicked water at it, causing it to malfunction. He laughed. The woman continued, “How are you not from here? Did you get stuck in another ship? Were you not given your own chair?” She gasped. “DID YOU COME FROM _EARTH_?” She looked at the man next to her, “Oh, I _did_ hear that a wave of shuttles came back recently.” She looked back to Vanitas. ”Were you picked up by an Eve probe?” she looked at him wide-eyed. “I’m Mary by the way, and this-” she pointed at the man next to her “-is John.” 

“Hi” John said, waving. “And your name is…?”

Vanitas let them wait for a few seconds before looking at John. “I’m Vanitas," he replied simply. His eyes went from John to Mary, and immediately noticed that she had a flower crown. Beautiful, pale Primroses were accentuated in a bed of plush Ivy, wrapping their way around her bright red hair. Vanitas must have been staring too long, because he heard Mary chuckle at him lightly.

“Hey,” she said good-heartedly, “-my eyes are right here. Don’t you know it's impolite to stare?” John moved his chair closer to Mary’s and tapped her shoulder, whispering in her ear.

_“If he came from Earth...he may not know.”_ Mary’s eyes widened dramatically, and she bowed her head slightly in apology. Before she could speak, Vanitas cut her off.

“I _know_ what flower crowns are.” he said sharply, looking at the ground. Absentmindedly, he started playing with his hair, where his vines were. It almost made him sad that they were gone…

Mary looked at him, nodding slightly. “I see, I see,” she faced John again, “He must be _budding._ ” John’s mouth fell into an O and he nodded knowingly as well.

Vanitas felt heat crawling up his face, and Mary spoke to him sympathetically. “You poor thing...left to live alone on the _wasteland_ that Earth has become, you’ve probably never had a normal life.” Vanitas refused to look at her. He didn’t want her to see how much that statement resonated with him. She continued, “At least you found love, even if you don’t know who it is yet.” Vanitas frowned, still staring at his shoes. _Am I_ that _easy to read?_

John spoke up, “Hey, if it makes you feel any better, I didn’t know I was in love with _this_ beautiful lady-” he looked at Mary, who giggled shyly, “-until I stopped focusing on distractions, like those _screens_ we were given” he said distastefully, his face pinched in a frown. He shook his head, refocusing. “Look, kid, there’s a whole ship here full of people. I’ll bet, if you open up your heart, you’ll see just how much that one special someone means to you. And I’ll bet _again!_ ” He shouted briefly, before going quieter, ”that they’ll love you back too.” 

Vanitas mulled it over. _Open up my heart?_ He wanted to reject the idea immediately. Breaking down the fragile walls he built over his heart? _Absolutely not._ He could feel himself getting mad, but his temper slowly cooled as he pondered the idea. Letting his emotions flow freely could be, well, _freeing,_ right? He could live normally, still feel negative emotions, but also the good ones. Joy, admiration, _love._ _Love…_ Vanitas wondered. Maybe he could learn more about love, and more specifically, _who_ he fell in love with. Van felt giddy at the idea of it all, and silenced the voice in his head warning him about _how terribly_ this could go.

Oblivious to Vanitas’ inner monologue, Mary chatted excitedly to John. “Hey, I never did ask you, what happened to your screen?” 

“ _Oh_ yeah. Well, I fell out of my chair-” Mary gasped, and Vanitas rolled his eyes,”-and there was this strange little brown robot who helped me back up. He was looking for someone... I hope he found them.” 

Vanitas perked up. _Did he mean…_ “You mean Wall-e!” Mary exclaimed. “He was looking for ‘Eve’. She was right next to me on the subway so I let him past me. He was the sweetest fellow.” 

“Hey,” Vanitas interrupted, “those two robots are...my _friends._ ” _They’re my friends right?_ “What will happen to them?” 

Mary looked at him, slightly concerned. “Good heavens, what do you mean? Nothing happens to robots unless they are defective. Then they go to be rebuilt, that’s all. But it didn’t seem as though they were _broken._ However, I _do_ remember an old phrase my mother used to say to me.” She cleared her throat, _“If an Eve probe ever comes back positive, we can go home.”_

“Wait,” Vanitas said suspiciously, “What do you mean by ‘comes back positive?’ What were the Eve probes supposed to be doing?” The word _directive_ came to mind. He remembered Eve and Wall-e talking about their own _directives_ back on ‘Earth’. 

“Hm,” she hummed thoughtfully, “I’m surprised the kiosks didn’t tell you this when you arrived, but this is the Axiom” she spread her arms out wide. “The captain has been sending out Eve probes to search for samples of life, such as humans like you, or _vegetation._ If an Eve came back positive, we just might be able to go back home!”

Vanitas hummed. “What would happen to the Eve if it came back positive?” 

“Well then,” she pointed to the ceiling of the ship, “they would go waaay up there to meet the captain, and AUTO.” 

“AUTO?” he asked.

“Oh, yes, AUTO controls the ship for the most part, but the captain monitors everything with it’s help! Here,” she turned to John. “Would you be a dear and bring up a picture?” John obliged and turned on his screen, pulling up a picture for Vanitas to see. “This is the captain,” Mary pointed to a chubby-faced man with bright eyes, “and this is AUTO,” she moved her finger to point at a mechanical steering wheel that had a glowing red eye in the center. Vanitas glared. _The darkness must be coming from_ that _thing,_ he thought to himself. 

Vanitas took a few steps back. “Well, _thank you._ I’m going to go find my friends now,” he said, smiling a little stiffly. If Ventus were here, he would probably hug Vanitas and tell him how proud he was that Vanitas _thanked_ them and _had a normal_ _conversation_ with them. Vanitas’ chest puffed out proudly and he turned to walk around the Axiom, stopping to clear out a wave of heartless before some Eves did the job for him. 

It was unusual that the robots here took care of the heartless, but it gave Vanitas some peace of mind knowing that the ship wasn’t in immediate danger. _Still,_ he thought, _AUTO gives me the creeps. Something isn’t right, but the captain seemed nice enough._ _I can’t get up to the captain’s quarters, but maybe since Eve has the plant…_ he stopped himself short, staring out a window. 

His jaw dropped as he watched Eve soaring through space, shooting heartless out of the sky, laughing as Wall-e rode a _fire extinguisher_ right into a shadow’s belly. Vanitas smiled gently. _They’ll be okay,_ he thought, _there are more lights than darknesses on this ship. All Wall-e needs to do is be himself._ He chuckled as Wall-e flew straight into another heartless. 

_Be himself..._ Vanitas frowned. He materialized Void Gear in his hand. Closing his eyes, he envisioned his past. All the wrongs he’s done. All the people he’s hurt. Terra, Aqua, _Ventus._ He gritted his teeth as flashes of memories came back to him. _The Badlands, the Land of Departure, thousands of floods, too many floods-_ Vanitas breathed deeply as he forced his eyes to stay closed. _Attacking Aqua, getting bested by Mickey and Ven, getting punished by Master Xehanort._ No, not master. He’s not Vanitas’ master anymore. _Attacking Sora, almost_ stabbing _Aqua, possessing Ventus, feeling himself slowly fall away from the x-blade, before being taken by oblivion…_

He felt a bead of sweat roll off his forehead as he tried to keep his eyes shut. He focused on the present. _Being found, being_ wanted, _being forgiven, being taught. Taught how to laugh, how to learn, how to be accepted. How to be himself. How to_ accept _who he is_ now _..._

He opened his eyes, looking around his feet. No unversed spawned... He raised a hand to his chest, feeling lighter somehow, like a heavy burden was lifted. He smiled slightly, and looked down to the keyblade in his hands.

“Alright,” he stared at Void Gear, whispering to his own reflection, “I'm accepting you you." He addressed his keyblade, staring into the sharp blue eyes. "You’re a part of me, just like my emotions, just like my past, just like my darkness. Now,” he said, throwing his keyblade into the air, “show me what you can do!” 

He reached out to catch Void Gear, but the moment it touched his palm, it glowed, transforming before him. The hilt broke in half, becoming two handlebars, as the gears on the keyblade changed, forming two large wheels. Vanitas squinted, momentarily blinded by the light. When he opened his eyes, he was sitting on what looked to be a motorcycle. Chains wrapped their way around the sides, coming to a stop behind the back fender, and two blue eyes rested on both sides of the front wheel hub.

_Not bad,_ Van thought, extremely satisfied with himself. He looked at Wall-e and Eve one last time before opening a portal, revving the engine, and driving through.


	8. White Tulip - Forgiveness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanitas gets chewed out by the wayfinder trio after staying too long on Earth.

Vanitas arrived back at the mountain path, and dematerialized his glider. It was dark outside, and he felt drunk on happiness. _I summoned my own glider,_ he cheered in his mind _._ Running to the castle, he allowed himself to smile the whole way. He reached the stairs, running up as fast as he could, pushing the door open. As soon as he did, Vanitas was assaulted with a hug so fierce that it knocked the wind out of his lungs. 

_“Where were you?!”_ a voice cried into his jacket, slightly muffled by the fabric of his hoodie. Vanitas quickly recovered from the shock, returning the embrace, wrapping an arm around Ven’s waist as the other hand cradled his head. 

Ventus pulled back slightly, tears streaming down his cheeks. Vanitas’ heart lurched as Ven used the back of his hand to wipe away his tears. “We looked _everywhere_ for you, but the world was so _big_ and there was this _sandstorm_ and-” Vanitas silenced him as he pulled Ven into another hug. Ventus whimpered slightly and buried his head into the crook of Van’s neck, snaking his arms around his torso. 

They stood there for a moment as Vanitas collected his thoughts. All he wanted to do was melt into Ven’s warmth, breathing in the scent of _light_ and _home_. He hesitantly rested his cheek on Ven’s head, but Vanitas’ traitorous stomach rumbled, and Ventus pulled away again. Vanitas almost whined at the loss. 

“Are you hungry? Let’s go get something to eat,” Ven said worriedly. He turned to go down the hall, but stopped to grab Vanitas’ wrist to pull him along. Vanitas stared, transfixed at how close Ven’s hand was to his own. They started walking, and the only thing that Vanitas could think about is how much he wanted to _interlock their fingers_. Ever so slowly, he eased his arm back, and Ven’s hand got closer and closer to his own. Just as he brushed his pinky finger along Ven’s knuckle, they arrived at the kitchen, where Terra and Aqua were sitting. They stared at Vanitas for a few seconds before pushing themselves out of their chairs.

Vanitas immediately yanked his hand out of Ventus’ grip, who looked back at him briefly, face painted with hurt. Ven turned his head away wordlessly. Terra and Aqua ran to them before Vanitas could feel guilty, Aqua grabbing him by the collar, staring into his eyes intensely. 

“Don’t you _EVER_ disappear like that again” she said harshly. Sighing, her anger quickly melted into relief as she tugged Vanitas into a hug, with Terra coming up from behind and wrapping his arms around them both. Terra squeezed them before they broke apart. Aqua backed up slightly, flicking Vanitas in the forehead. 

“Ow” he rubbed at his head. “That hurt.”

“Well it serves you right!” Aqua exclaimed, placing a hand on her hip. Terra just stared at him, obviously mad, but Vanitas could see the relief behind his eyes. He stared at the ground. _How long was I gone? It only felt like a few days went by…_

“Uh, Aqua?” he asked. She looked at him worriedly, tilting her head. “How long was I gone for?” Her face fell shockingly fast, and she looked at Ventus, who looked at Terra, who refused to look at anything but the floor. 

Vanitas growled in the back of his throat. “Come on, it wasn’t _that_ long. I’m sorry I didn’t call,” he pulled out his phone, which was still cracked, “but this stupid hunk-of-junk must have broke when I was in the middle of that sandstorm-” they all gasped, and Ventus gripped his forearm, holding onto him like he was going to dissapear again. 

“You got caught in the sandstorm?” Ven asked, panicking. “What happened? Where did you go?” 

Terra spoke up for the first time, resting a hand on Ven’s shoulder. “Alright, let’s sit down. Vanitas can talk to us about it after he’s had something to eat. You’re hungry, aren’t you?” he asked Van. He nodded feverishly. 

“Are there any leftovers in the fridge? I can go get-” Vanitas started to walk toward the fridge, but Ventus was still holding his arm, not letting go. Vanitas looked back at Ven’s pleading face, and froze. Guilt closed in on him, and he tried swallowing around his dry throat, coughing harshly into his elbow. Ventus’ mouth fell open. 

“That’s right, the world you were on was completely void of any water. I’ll go get you some, you can sit down next to Terra,” he said, begrudgingly releasing Vanitas’ arm. Ven walked over to the kitchen area as Vanitas sat down at the table.

Terra relaxed slightly, whistling as they waited for Ventus to return. Aqua was glaring at Vanitas, and he looked at the floor. “I-”

“No,” Aqua said firmly, “you can explain when Ventus comes back.”

Vanitas winced at her tone, and looked off to the side at Ven. Thankfully, they didn’t have to wait long as Ventus walked over to them, sitting beside Vanitas, sliding over a full glass of water. 

Vanitas looked Ven in the eyes, sighing a brief “thank you” before drinking. He turned away, closing his eyes as the water went down his throat. He hummed in appreciation, and Ven glanced at him, unbelieving.

“What?” Vanitas asked.

Ventus looked away and mumbled, “Nothing, it's just...you don’t usually say thanks so _naturally_ like that. It’s amazing…” Vanitas looked at Ven, then to Terra and Aqua, who were sporting matching grins. They looked like the proud parents of a kid who just won their first science fair. 

Vanitas scoffed, slightly bashful. “Eh, well…” he cut himself off, refocusing. “A-Anyways, do you guys want to hear what happened or not?” They all snapped out of their haze, and stared at Vanitas. Ven tilted his head to the side in curiosity and pouted slightly, his bottom lip jutting out. Vanitas could feel his heart racing as he stammered through his story…only skipping through _some_ bad parts and skimming over _some_ little details, like his conversation with Mary and John...or how he summoned a glider...or his meltdown with his buds back on Earth...

“YOU MET SOME _ROBOTS_? What were they like? What did the Axiom look like? Did you sit in one of those floating chairs-?” 

“Okay, okay Ven,” Aqua stopped Ventus’ rambling, “I’m glad that those robots helped you out Vanitas…” she stopped talking abruptly, like she wanted to say more. Vanitas looked at her questioningly, and she turned her gaze to Terra.

“Vanitas,” he spoke up, his tone serious. “Are you feeling alright? You haven’t had any food or water in so long.”

“What is with you guys? I was gone for - I don’t know - _two_ days, and I’m pretty sure the robot assistants gave me some ‘ _breakfast in a cup_ ’ when I was delirious on the ship. I’m _fine._ ” He crossed his arms and glared at all of them. They looked at each other, then back to him.

“Vanitas, I think that world may have been messing with you,” Aqua looked at Terra, who nodded. “You were gone for almost a _week._ ” 

Vanitas uncrossed his arms, staring blankly at her. A red hot chili spawned at his feet and he crushed it with the heel of his boot. Ven must have noticed this because Vanitas felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. He sighed, thankful that Ventus was here to ground him. Vanitas always thought it was ironic, considering Ven’s name. 

He breathed deeply, and Aqua looked at him understandingly. “It’s alright though, don’t worry,” she looked at the group, “I think we all know what it’s like when time plays tricks on you. You should get some sleep. I think we _all_ should get some sleep.” 

“Right,” Ventus agreed. He looked at Vanitas expectantly, but Van’s eyes were focused on the table, unseeing. He gripped Vanitas’ shoulder tighter, and spoke up. “Hey, it’ll be alright…”

Vanitas finally snapped out of his haze, and looked at Ventus, a fragile, reassuring smile on his lips. Ventus knew it was fake, but didn’t comment. It was just a way to make Aqua and Terra not worry, but it never worked on Ven. 

Vanitas tried to keep a smile plastered on his face as they each got up from their seats, with Terra and Aqua pulling him into one last hug, before retreating to their rooms for the night. Vanitas stayed in the kitchen for a while, grabbing himself a quick meal. Ventus lingered there too, content with just watching Vanitas make food until they were ready to go. 

They walked side-by-side down the castle, with Ventus asking more questions about the Axiom and the robot assistants.

“Man, I wish I had my own personal cleaning robot. It must be so cool!” Ventus gushed. Vanitas thought back to how the people on Axiom lived, with no motivation, strolling aimlessly around in space. Maybe he _should_ have stayed back to help them...Maybe Vanitas _didn’t_ do enough on his mission. Maybe Wall-e _can’t_ do it. Who knows how much time passed already? Maybe it was already _too late_...

“Hey,” Ventus said. “Stop overthinking,” he said gently. “You did all that you could. I’m sure Wall-bee will help those humans. Maybe they can start small by making a garden or something” he said optimistically. Vanitas closed his eyes and laughed. _Of course he would be positive about this._

“Wall- _e_ ” he corrected Ventus. Ven shrugged and mumbled a _‘you know what I meant’_. Vanitas chuckled, feeling better about the situation. He was just blowing things out of proportion, knowing fully well that Wall-e and Eve could help them. Vanitas still had a lot to learn, but maybe positivity could be next. His mind wandered to Ven, who was smiling cheerfully next to him. They rounded a corner, nearing their bedrooms. 

_“How do you do that?”_ he breathed. Vanitas mentally cursed at himself. _That’s not what I wanted to say._

They stopped walking, and Ventus looked at him curiously. “Do what?”

“You know,” Vanitas said, flailing his arms, trying to put it into words. “Make me feel better about….just...everything” he said uselessly, but Ventus nodded in understanding. He always understood.

“I just...saw that you were really zoning out back there, and when you were telling your story about leaving the Axiom, you looked _guilty_ . You put yourself down too much, and I wanted to reassure you,” he chuckled shyly, “that’s all…” he looked off to the side. The moonlight was framing Ventus’ face, and Vanitas looked at his cheeks, which were slightly tinged pink. _That’s interesting._

“We should, uh,” Van said faintly, “get to bed now. It’s getting late” he pointed to a window. It was pitch black out, the moon hanging directly over them. 

Ventus’ eyes widened, his hand reaching into his hair and gripping something. Vanitas could barely see him as he backed away from the window. “Oh y-yeah I’m super tired,” he lied, his voice hurried, “I’ll see you tomorrow Vanitas!” He ran into his room, passing by some of the windows on his way down. Vanitas could see Ven trying to cover something on his head. 

Vanitas frowned, and walked back to his room sullenly. Just as he was about to close the door to his room, he heard Ventus’ open slightly, only wide enough for Ven’s hand to fit through. “Van…?” he called out. Vanitas hummed in acknowledgement. “I’m glad you’re okay…Good night,” he said softly, before shutting the door again.   
  
Vanitas stared at his door for a few seconds. “Good night, Ven.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kinda short but i promise the next chapter will be longer -u-


	9. Crocus - Youthfulness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ventus takes Vanitas on a NOT-date to the Kingdom of Corona.
> 
> (part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a 2 parter because my dumb brain was still telling me "this is still a one-shot you dont need to make chapters" 🤡🤡

The next morning, Vanitas waddled into the bathroom drowsily, looking in the mirror.  _ No buds today, _ he said in his mind, sighing in relief. He was  _ not _ in the mood to brush them out again. He waddled back into the kitchen, groaning when he didn’t see Terra’s coffee mug anywhere. He made his way into their living room, which had soon become a “theater room” when they started having movie nights. There were three sofas lined up in the back of the large room, blackout curtains hanging on the windows, and a giant TV screen hanging above a small fireplace, where pictures of all the guardians of light were hung up by Aqua. 

Vanitas plopped down on one of the couches, spreading his legs out, leaning the back of his head on the armrest. He closed his eyes, and felt something poke at his nose. “Mmn,” he groaned, hearing Ventus laugh merrily. 

He opened his eyes slightly, and glared at Ven. “Well good morning to you too, Vanitas. Terra is  _ really _ sorry that you couldn’t steal his coffee this morning,” he said sarcastically. 

“Mm, where are they?” he asked, closing his eyes again. When he didn’t get a response out of Ven, he forced his eyelids to open again. Ventus was sitting on the couch closest to him, almost stiffly. 

He finally spoke up, “Well, they told me to take you along for a mission in the Kingdom of Corona. They said some heartless were disturbing a mineshaft of something, and it was pretty important.” 

Vanitas huffed, a  _ little more _ than suspicious that Ventus didn’t answer his question directly, almost as if he asked a question that Ventus hadn’t prepared for. “Oh?” he said nonchalantly, “and why didn’t  _ Miss Bossy Pants _ herself tell us this yesterday?” 

Ventus stammered, making incoherent sounds for a while before laughing it off nervously, obviously thinking of a good response. “W-well, she knew you were going through a lot yesterday and she didn’t want to overwhelm you, y’know? Sooo, she told me this morning before her and Terra left for their own mission.” 

Vanitas crossed his one leg over the other, folding his arms behind his head. Making Ventus flustered was his favorite thing to do. “Okay, and if this mission was  _ so important, _ why didn’t you wake me up?” 

His plan worked, and Ventus’ face flushed. Then he growled, obviously not having a comeback, and threw a couch cushion on Vanitas’ face. Vanitas made a small  _ ‘oof’ _ , and sprung up in a heartbeat. He saw Ventus standing on top of the couch.

“Oh THAT’S it,” he warned, pulling a cushion out from the couch he was sitting on. Ventus made a weak attempt to block by putting his hands out in front of him, but Vanitas crouched down, pushing on Ven’s stomach with so much force that he tumbled off the back of the couch, falling to the floor. 

Ventus recovered quickly, and jumped over to the third couch, reaching for a new cushion to throw. Vanitas grabbed two, one in each hand, and held them like a shield. They came to a standstill, staring into each other’s eyes mischievously, each one planning their next move. 

Vanitas was grinning wickedly, and Ven was smiling brightly, trying not to laugh.  _ He’s so beautiful, _ Vanitas thought. His grin started to falter, the grip on the cushions going soft. Ventus immediately took advantage, sending an aero his way, making him fly into the couch behind him. 

Vanitas started to wheeze, out of breath, as he watched Ventus laugh triumphantly. He seemed to be doing a small victory dance as well, and Vanitas couldn’t help but smile. 

_ “You always manage to leave me breathless…” _ he whispered. Ventus immediately turned his head around to look at him.

“What?”

“What…?” Vanitas eloquently replied, standing up and brushing himself off. He cleared his throat, “So, what happened to that  _ important _ mission, Venty-Wenty,” he teased, purring. 

Ventus blushed, clearly nervous for being caught out. “Shut up,” he whined, looking around at the mess they made. “We should probably clean up before we leave.” 

“Yes, sir. I wouldn’t want  _ Aqua _ to  _ kill us _ and use our skins to decorate the  _ floor _ .” Ventus laughed as they started to put away the couch cushions. Once everything was cleaned up, Vanitas went to grab his jacket and boots, while Ventus decided to make some breakfast for them. 

“Thanks,” Vanitas mumbled as he took a bowl of oatmeal. His mouth was practically watering as he glanced inside. A layer of steaming hot oatmeal covered the bottom, with cold, fresh cut strawberries arranged on the top in the shape of a flower. Ventus even put a few blueberries in the center for the pistil.  _ What a dork, _ Vanitas thought fondly, digging into his meal with a spoon. He almost closed his eyes in bliss as the rich oatmeal hit his tastebuds, a hint of sweetness from the brown sugar, and note of sour from the not-yet ripe strawberries. He went back for another bite, and another, and another.  _ It’s amazing. _

“Eh, it’s pretty good I guess,” Vanitas shrugged. Ventus practically  _ beamed, _ his face lighting up like a Christmas tree. It reminded Vanitas of the first time Terra, Aqua, and Ventus took him to see Halloween Town _.  _ Vanitas was certain that his outfit would look the same as Sora’s, but Terra told him the magic doesn’t work that way. He said Vanitas was  _ way _ different from Sora - which got Aqua chortling - and that the magic would react to him differently. For once, the clumsy giant was right.

When they arrived, Vanitas saw Ventus’ one eyed look of surprise as he observed Van’s outfit. Vanitas had tried not to burst into laughter as he saw Ventus, wrapped in bandages head to toe, with only his left eye sticking out. Terra looked like Frankenstein, and Aqua looked like a deep sea creature with blue scales trailing over her arms. Vanitas was dressed as a demon of sorts, wearing a showy black circus hat and tailcoat, a pointed tail sticking out of the back. He had to listen to Ven and Aqua’s gushing for _ three minutes straight _ before they continued walking.

Ventus skipped ahead of them, his bandages bouncing with the movement. Vanitas wasn’t far behind, and Terra and Aqua walked behind them both, observing the scenery. Vanitas could never remember what the journey looked like, only Ventus’ blinding smile as they walked through the graveyard.

“We should head out now, right Vanitas?” 

“Huh?” he said dumbly, his spoon hanging limply between his fingers.

Ventus laughed, grabbing Vanitas’ empty bowl of oatmeal and placing it in the sink. “ _ I’ll clean this later _ ,” he muttered to himself. He turned around, laughing when he caught Van trying to lick his spoon clean of any remaining brown sugar syrup. Ventus took the spoon out of his hands, placing it in the sink as well.

“Hey! I wasn’t finished with that…” Vanitas looked petulant. Ventus tried not to laugh more as he tugged on Vanitas’ sleeve. 

“Come on, we’re burning daylight.” 

They walked down the castle side by side, Vanitas sending glances Ven’s way once in a while. He noticed that Ventus was starting to look nervous, or maybe even shy. Before he could open his mouth, Ven cut him off.

“Alright, so,” he faced Vanitas, putting on a smile that screamed  _ ‘I’m anxious and I want to bury my head in the sand’. _ “Do you want to take the gummi ship? Terra and Aqua left it here for us-”

“No, actually,” he cut Ventus off, smirking. “Stand back,” he warned Ven, throwing his keyblade into the air. As it started transforming, Vanitas looked at Ven’s starstruck expression. He grinned wider as the transformation finished, revving the engine of the motorcycle and putting on his helmet and dark suit. 

Ventus only stared, mouth agape, and Vanitas laughed. He patted the seat behind him. “Well?” he asked expectantly. Ventus’ face dusted pink, and he wordlessly summoned his armor, sitting behind Vanitas. His arms wrapped around Vanitas’ waist, interlocking slightly above Van’s belly button. Vanitas breathed in sharply, thankful that Ventus couldn’t see his cherry red face, and quickly drove them through a portal.

~ ~ ~

They arrived at a clearing surrounded by mountains and forests. Near the back was a tall, abandoned tower with moss growing between the brick walls. The grass was unkempt and wild, with tall wildflowers growing from the ground. Vanitas stopped his glider short. It transformed back into Void Gear, leaving Ventus to fall on his butt with a loud  _ ‘oomph’.  _ Vanitas laughed.

“Sorry,” he said, not apologetic at all. “So, where are we?” He removed the helmet and dark suit, fluffing out his jacket. 

Ventus’ armor disappeared, and he hummed in thought. His eyes wandered to the tall tower, and he gasped. Pulling out his phone, he showed Vanitas a selfie of Sora, Donald, and Goofy standing in front of the very same tower before them. “See? Sora used to send pictures of the places he traveled to  _ all the time _ . This must be Rapunzel’s old tower. She’s the  _ princess _ of this world-…” Ventus’ voice became background noise as Vanitas got wrapped up in his own thoughts.

_ Sora… _ he felt bad hearing the name. Vanitas wished they could have done  _ something _ to help him, but Aqua said that Riku and Kairi found a lead, and they went places where  _ nobody else _ could go. He sighed, and Ven put a hand on his shoulder.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, eyes full of concern. 

Vanitas looked away. Normally he would shrug Ventus off, come up with some kind of witty retort, and be done with it - but...he wanted to follow John’s advice. He breathed out harshly through his teeth, facing Ventus.

“I don’t know,” he started, “I guess, I just wish I could have talked to Sora...about  _ stuff _ . I don’t know!” he said, exasperated, staring up at the sky. They were silent for a while, before Vanitas spoke up again. “He--Sora, I mean…” Vanitas gulped, “saved me a long time ago. His light came to me when  _ we were separated _ ,” he gritted out, jaw locked. Neither of them liked to talk about that time, especially when Vanitas learned to be more open and vulnerable about his pain, and what Xehanort did to him. He could feel tears sting the corners of his eyes, but he refused to let them fall. _ Not in front of Ven. He shouldn’t have to share your pain _ , he kept reminding himself. “I want to...to t-thank him…but-!” his throat closed, and he suppressed a sob, his body shaking.

Ventus sprung into action, grabbing Vanitas’ shoulders and pulling him into a hug. He tugged on Vanitas’ hair and brought Van’s face to his shoulder, letting him shudder against it. Vanitas couldn’t repress his tears anymore and let them fall freely onto Ventus’ shirt, burying his face into the warmth. 

“It’s alright,” Ventus soothed. “I wanted to say more to him too...We’ll get the chance when he comes back. He would be  _ so _ happy that you’re here, he never wanted to leave anybody behind.” 

They stood there for a while, embracing each other, Vanitas’ silent sobs slowing to a stop. He pulled away slightly, noticing a wet spot on Ven’s shoulder. He pointed to it bashfully.

“Uh,” he started, his voice still wobbly, “I kinda--sorry Ventus…” he trailed off. Ventus just smiled back.

“It’s alright,” he shrugged. “There’s a nice breeze going by anyway, it’ll dry. I’m not worried about it.” 

Vanitas looked at the ground, feeling slightly embarrassed that he let himself be so vulnerable around someone. Ventus looked at a cave, and pointed. “I think we should go this way, it's our way out.” 

“Y-yeah,” Vanitas stuttered, following close behind Ventus as he wiped the last of the tear tracks from his face.  _ Pull yourself together. _

Ventus started humming, his voice echoing off the cavern walls. A curtain of vines grew at the end of the tunnel, light poking through. Before they reached the end, Vanitas walked ahead of Ventus, pushing the vines out of the way, making a grand sweeping gesture. 

“Your highness,” he said half sarcastically. He cringed at himself. Normally his voice would be  _ dripping _ with sarcasm, but almost all of it was gone. He swallowed, hoping that Ventus wouldn’t see his blushing face. 

The last thing he expected was for Ventus to look away from him, sheepish. He stepped through, and Vanitas followed suit, not trusting himself to say anything more. He whistled as they looked around what seemed to be a bright forest. 

Ventus giggled, “You could say  _ that _ again.” 

Vanitas whistled a second time, and Ventus laughed harder, a hand resting on his belly as he giggled through his nose and snorted. Vanitas stared at Ven’s face and joined in, laughing along with him. 

They both settled with a sigh, and Ventus stepped forward. He pointed straight ahead. “Terra said the mines would be this way, let’s go.”

“Alright,” Vanitas shrugged.

They took a total of three steps before Vanitas noticed something moving on the ground. A ring of whipped cream shook at the base of the earth, holding up a crown wrapped in Orange Blossoms. It looked like something was growing out of the ground. Vanitas put himself between Ventus and the _ thing _ as it wiggled its way out of the dirt. 

Vanitas’ mouth fell open, his arm spread out protectively over Ven as he looked up to the face of a massive heartless. It resembled a flan, towering over both of them. It’s chest displayed a deep-red and black heartless symbol, and it jiggled slightly as the flan shook its hair, flailing its stubby arms around. Vanitas summoned his keyblade, but Ventus pushed down his arm.

“Wait-wait-wait!” he cried. Vanitas reluctantly put his arm down, letting Ventus past him. “Donald and Goofy talked about this before, remember? They told us about the seven flan heartless that they meet in every world they went to. This must be Orange Blossom. It’s nice to meet you!” he turned to wave at the flan. It seemed to love the attention as it enthusiastically waved back. 

Ventus smiled back at Van. “See? It’s friendly. Say hi!” he encouraged.

Vanitas sighed, reluctantly facing the flan. “Hello...Orange Blossom.”

The flan trilled, ecstatic at the attention it was getting. Vanitas had to back away from the heartless waddling toward him, trying to bring him into a hug. He summoned his keyblade, flashing it warningly. It stopped moving, bouncing in place, and Ventus spoke to them.

“He seems a little energetic, but I think it’s just his flower crown.”

Vanitas eyes him curiously, “What do you mean?”   
  
“Well, Orange Blossoms mean excitement or enthusiasm, or so Terra told me.”

“So...you know the meanings of  _ all _ flowers?”

“Well,” he rubbed the back of his head, smiling sheepishly, “I don’t know  _ all _ the meanings because there are so many, but Aqua and Terra sometimes teach me. It’s nice to know since-- I-I mean, for  _ when _ I get a flower crown.” His face reddened, “So I won’t embarrass myself when I have no clue what my flowers mean, you know?” 

Vanitas frowned.  _ Does Ventus already have a flower crown? How long has he had it? Why didn’t he tell  _ me _ about it? _ Vanitas felt betrayed. After all this time, did Vent still feel uncomfortable around him? 

His thoughts abruptly stopped when he felt a phantom sensation wash over his body. He looked up to where a flood was being pampered by Orange Blossom. The heartless cooed as it bounced the flood up and down, stroking its head. Vanitas felt nauseous, and almost fell over. 

His eyes slammed shut as he blindly reached out to grab onto something. Vanitas felt himself grab onto nothing but air as the world started spinning, and he stumbled. He felt solid arms wrap around his shoulders, steadying him. 

“Whoa! V-Vanitas are you okay?!” 

Vanitas groaned, prying his eyes open. He could barely see Ven’s blurry expression of surprise, but he noticed their faces were  _ extremely close. _ He looked away before Ventus could notice the blush forming on his cheeks, and tried pushing his wobbly legs up. He attempted to face Orange Blossom, who was  _ dangling _ the _ flood _ by its  _ feet _ . That explained the pain in his legs…

Ventus seemed to catch onto this, looking from the flood to Vanitas. He called out to the giant flan. “Hey Orange Blossom? Can you please put the flood down, you’re hurting my friend!”

The flan looked at Ven, and nodded. He held on to the flood for a few moments before holding it up, dropping it suddenly. Ventus could only stare in horror as the flood fell on its head, disappearing into smoke and collecting back into Vanitas. 

Vanitas felt the phantom pain of his skull being hit, and he cradled his head in his arms. He had a brief moment of peace before his own rampant emotions of  _ uncertainty  _ and  _ insecurity _ rattled his heart. Vanitas distantly felt Ventus grab his arm.

“I’m sorry!” he cried. “I’m so so sorry Van. I didn’t know that would happen.”

“It’s alright,” Vanitas gritted out. He released his head as the pain started to fade. “Normally the unversed aren’t  _ cuddled _ and dropped on their _ heads _ ,” he glared at Orange Blossom, who shrugged. “What does this thing want anyway?” he asked Ventus. 

His eyes widened comically, like he remembered something important. “ _ Oh _ yeah, these flan siblings like to play minigames and give out different challenges. Isn’t that right?” He faced Orange Blossom, who squealed with glee. Ven walked up to it, scratching its belly. “You poor thing,” he cooed, “you haven’t had anyone to talk to in a while, huh buddy?” The heartless whined, shaking its head sadly. 

Vanitas sighed, “Well?” he asked. “We can play his little game. We have time, right Ventus?” he said nonchalantly. Ven smiled, nodding his head enthusiastically while the flan bounced happily. “Alright then, what do we have to do?” 

The flan started wobbling, unable to contain its joy. It waddled over to a tree, and burst into a cloud of white smoke. When the haze cleared, they gasped in surprise, looking at the many duplicated forms of the heartless flan wandering around the forest. Some were slithering back and forth, and others were playing with birds or rabbits in the area. 

“What are we supposed to do here?” Vanitas asked. Ven bit his lip.

“Umm, well…” he pulled out his phone, looking something up. “I think Sora took pictures. If you get the perfect ones, you win. Easy enough...I think,” he said half-confidently. 

Vanitas hummed. They started walking around the forest, looking for the perfect shot. Ventus decided to hold the camera, and Vanitas told him when to take a picture.  _ How hard could this be? _

~ ~ ~

Apparently, it was very hard. Ventus got overwhelmed by the number of flans, and was often uncertain which one to take a picture of. When they finally found one, they had trouble finding the right position. Vanitas tried telling Ven when to take a picture, but sometimes Ventus would react too slowly, or his hands would shake when taking the picture. They restarted twice, and each try wasted thirty minutes of their time. Ventus was currently trying to take a picture of a flan posing with a bluebird. 

“Mmm...” Ventus hummed in concentration, holding the camera shakily. Vanitas’ patience was wearing thin.

“Just wait for the flan to do its little flourish,” Vanitas said supportively. Just as the flan made the perfect pose, Ventus hesitated. Vanitas held back his groan of impatience.

“Sorry! My hands were shaking and-” 

Vanitas cut him off, putting his hands over Ven’s. Ventus squeaked, but made no attempt to move. Vanitas shifted so he was behind him, staring at the phone screen, centering it around the flan. 

“Here,” he whispered, “I’ll keep your hands steady, just press the button when I say so.”

“O-okay,” Ven breathed. 

They repeated this until they got everything right. When the last picture was taken, all the flans dissolved into spoke, forming into one big heartless. Orange Blossom looked at them, jumping with joy. It jiggled in place as it leaned over to hand Vanitas something. It looked like some sort of badge. A sundae bowl held up a tall, _normal_ flan, which had a ring of whipped cream on the top, orange blossoms adorning the bottom. It glistened in the midday sun as Vanitas admired it. He hummed, giving it to Ventus.

“What? I don’t deserve it,” he said bashfully, “I was the reason we had to do the trial over and over…” 

Vanitas sputtered. He wanted to tell Ventus that he was wrong and that he was  _ perfect  _ (something he would  _ never _ say aloud), but he couldn’t find the right words.

“Just take the badge or I’ll shove it down your throat,” he threatened half-heartedly. 

Ventus laughed, and put the badge in his pocket. Orange Blossom seemed satisfied, and bid them one last farewell before disappearing into the ground again. Vanitas stared at it, his face scrunched in concentration.  _ How does it do that? _

He heard Ventus laugh beside him, and Van turned his head. Ven’s smile was gentle, his eyes fond. Vanitas looked away. “So,” he started, “what about that _mineshaft_?” 

Ventus’ smile faded, his face going serious. “Uh, right.” He pointed to a path between a few trees. “It should be that way. We have some time to get there. Come on,” he waved to Vanitas. They walked through the forest for a few minutes, nothing unusual happening.

They chatted back and forth about nothing in particular, but not  _ once _ did they have to summon their weapons. Vanitas was starting to get curious. “So,” he started casually. “Shouldn’t there be heartless around here? You _said_ that they were causing trouble in a mineshaft. Why aren’t they bothering us out here?”

Ventus turned shy again, scratching at his cheek. “The heartless are probably attracted to a source of darkness, right? No _evil witches_ are in that old tower anymore, so there isn’t a reason for the heartless to exist here. The Kingdom is a little ways past the forest, so maybe they all gathered closer to there?” he asked, unsure of himself.

Vanitas raised an eyebrow. “Right…” he said dubiously. 

They walked in silence, the air charged with nervous energy. Vanitas was still vigilant, looking at the forest ahead and beside him, while Ventus walked rigidly, staring forward and sending glances Vanitas’ way once in a while. 

Vanitas had to admit, the forest was peaceful. The sunlight was warm, almost bordering  _ too-warm. _ The breeze made the forest _sing._ Summer-green leaves brushing against each other, the sharp crunching of gravel beneath their heels, and the forest creatures singing their merry songs. It was perfect.

The moment Van let his guard down, a curtain of cold water washed over him, droplets rolling off his faux-leather jacket. “Ack!” He shivered, facing the offender. Ventus was ankle-deep in a small lake, giving Vanitas a playful smirk. Vanitas wanted to wipe it clean off his face. 

“Hey! You got my hair all wet,” Vanitas shook his head like a dog, sending the water flying. The black spikes of his hair were drooping, and Vanitas shot Ventus his best annoyed, sour face.

Ventus stifled a laugh, “Oh yeah? And what are you gonna do about it,  _ Vany-Wany _ ?” 

Vanitas’ face went slack, his lips parting in shock.  _ Is he  _ teasing _ me?  _ He stood there, lost in his thoughts for a moment, almost awestruck.  _ He’s amazing, _ Van thought dreamily _.  _ He breathed a laugh, his lips curling upwards. Two could play this game. 

“I see how it is.” He summoned Void Gear, holding it in his right hand, positioning the tip straight to Ven. 

Ventus was still smirking, “What are you going to do? Use a  _ water spell _ ? That’s pretty  _ boring _ , don’t you think Van?” Vanitas stilled for a moment. Ventus’ words were  _ dripping _ with attitude, but the smirk on his face was melting into that brilliant smile of his.  _ Is he trying to copy  _ me _?  _ Vanitas...strangely felt a sense of pride at that. Something warm curled around his heart, spreading to his limbs as he smiled goofily. The hand that held Void Gear lowered slightly, but he gripped it again, bringing it to Ventus.

“No,” Vanitas shrugged his shoulder, “I was thinking of _freezing_ _your ankles_ there all day. Maybe I’ll come back for you after I clear out those heartless. Or...maybe not,” he grinned devilishly. 

Ventus’ mouth fell into an o. “You wouldn’t dare!” he gasped. 

_ “Try me.” _

Vanitas cackled as Ventus tried to wade himself through the water, breaking into a sprint when he finally reached dry land. Vanitas fired a small blizzard at Ven’s heels, watching Ventus jump.

He started squealing when Vanitas started running after him.

“Run, Ventus!” he commanded. They weaved their way through tall trees, climbed over large boulders, and stomped through slippery marshes, chasing each other the whole way.

Neither of them noticed when they ran past the mineshaft, leaving it to echo their laughter.


	10. Bittersweet - Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ventus and Vanitas meet Rapunzel, and Vanitas learns something about his feelings...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well, i'm mad broke my streak of updating every day -n- i wasnt feeling well   
> enjoy this longer-than-usual chapter <3

They stopped at a meadow. Ventus started wheezing, exhausted as he fell to his knees and back onto a bed of flowers. Vanitas wasn’t in any better shape, slowing to a stop in front of Ven and holding his knees in his hands.

“Are ya’... _ huff _ ...gonna... _ huff _ ...surrender yet?”

Ventus closed his eyes, a fist raised defiantly in the air. “Never!” he panted. 

Vanitas felt his legs give out, and he collapsed next to Ven without  _ any _ semblance of grace. They both laughed, trying to catch their breaths next to each other. It felt...calming, being next to Ven. They were almost touching shoulders, and Vanitas could feel some of Ven’s warmth. 

He looked over to Ven, who was looking into Vanitas’ eyes, sky blues meeting crimson reds. Vanitas’ laughter died in his throat, his breath stopping short. Ventus’ _blinding_ smile was framed by the vibrant flowers growing in the field. Vanitas wanted to imagine what Ventus would look like with a flower crown.  _ Would the crown be big, with lavish, colorful blooms? Or would it be small and delicate, with paler flowers? What would each flower mean? _ His thoughts spiraled, wondering  _ who Ventus’ blooms would be for, or who would he confess to?  _

Envy prickled at Vanitas’ skin like thorns. He was  _ jealous _ at the thought of Ventus being in love with someone else. He sat up, staring furiously at the ground.  _ Why do I feel like this? _

“Hey, Van, look at this!” Ventus said excitedly. Vanitas shook his head, clearing his thoughts. He swiveled around to watch Ven, who was observing a butterfly fluttering around his head. Ven giggled as it landed on the back of his hand, which was lightly curled into a fist. “Come here,” he beckoned to Vanitas.

Vanitas groaned, carefully pushing himself up, mindful of the butterfly that was drying its wings on Ven’s knuckle. He stepped over to Ven, avoiding the beautiful flowers surrounding them. He crouched down, and the butterfly folded out beautifully. His eyes widened as he took in the iridescent-blue wings shimmering in the sunlight, and the velvety-black outline on the tail and body. “What kind of butterfly is this?” he whispered to Ven, mesmerized.

“Umm, I think it's called a Blue Swallowtail. It’s wings are still a little wet, so it can’t fly that well. There must be a cocoon nearby.” Just as Ven finished his sentence, the butterfly flapped its large wings, fluttering unsteadily onto a large pink flower. 

“What flower is that?” Vanitas asked. Ventus laughed, amused at how curious Vanitas was about this.

“That’s a Larkspur flower. It means fickleness.” Ventus wasn’t expecting Vanitas to look at it in disgust, his face scrunched up. He almost burst into laughter.

“I don’t like that flower,” Van said decidedly. He got up from where he was crouching, and started poking at the butterfly. “Shoo, shoo” he said almost childishly. The butterfly obliged, fluttering to another kind of flower. “What’s  _ that _ flower?” Vanitas asked again.

“I think it's a Zinnia,” he squinted at it. “Would you say that it's  _ purple _ or  _ pink _ ?”

“Magenta,” Vanitas said sternly. 

Ventus laughed softly. “Okay then, I think purple-” Vanitas stared at him, “-or  _ magenta _ , means lasting affection.” He waited for Vanitas’ reaction, but his face was blank, emotionless. His hand was twitching slightly as he stared down at the flower, deep in thought. Ventus started to get self conscious.  _ Maybe this wasn’t a good idea.  _ He stood up, gently brushing the butterfly away from the flower. It flew away, and Ven almost heard Vanitas whine.  _ That was strange... _

They silently followed the butterfly, Vanitas sulking behind Ven. He stared back at the Zinnia longingly. Van wanted to take the flower and put it in Ventus’ hair.  _ Would that have been weird? What would Ven say?  _

His eyes widened as the butterfly decided to land on a delicate vine of tiny white hearts. Vanitas’ curiosity peaked. The bush was covered in tiny,  _ heart-like _ blooms. He walked up to the plant, bewitched. “What kind of flowers are _ these _ ?” he said dazily. 

“Oh, uh--um...These are called Bleeding Hearts.” Vanitas frowned.  _ Why is Ventus acting shy about it? _ He inspected the plant, lifting one of the blooms up with his pinky finger. They were  _ gorgeous.  _

_ What would they look like on Ven?  _

Carefully, he found the stem to one of the strands of white hearts, and pinched it off. Before he could think twice, he walked over to Ven, and placed it on his head like a tiara. 

Ventus’ lips parted beautifully in a gasp, his face blushing madly. Vanitas smiled at him, heart pounding. His eyes went to Ven’s rosy lips, noticing how soft they looked. His heart raced faster. 

“So, what do  _ Bleeding Hearts _ mean?”

Ventus met his eyes for a brief second before looking away, his blush turning a shade darker. “They mean innocence and purity...b-but, in some places...it's known for compassion and  _ unconditional love _ .” 

Vanitas was slightly shocked, his eyes not leaving the makeshift tiara on Ven’s head. “I think it’s beautiful,” he said quietly, unsure if he was referring to the flower, or Ventus. When did he become such a  _ sap _ ? He started worrying.  _ Why am I acting like this?  _ He needed to stop--he needed to do something  _ familiar _ . 

“You look like  _ Terra _ when Aqua catches him  _ singing _ in the  _ shower _ ,” he teased, his lips curving in an all-too-familiar smirk. 

Ventus’ attention snapped back to Vanitas, and he gasped. “V-Van-!” he said, affronted. Vanitas laughed heartily, stepping back slightly. Ventus obviously didn’t have a comeback, and that made Van laugh harder. His eyes were closed, joyful, and _completely unprepared_ for when Ventus shoved him in the chest playfully. 

His eyes flew open as he tried to catch himself, but failed to grasp on to anything. He distantly heard Ventus call for him as he tumbled down a large hill, head spinning.  _ HOW BIG IS THIS HILL?! _ Van tasted pollen from the _many_ flowers he rolled over, and at some point his jacket fell off, getting caught on a fallen branch. Thankfully, his tumbling came to a stop, and he fell gracelessly into a plush bush of  _ Buxus Microphylla. _

Vanitas looked like a mess. His arms were splayed out wide, glued between the shrub’s branches, his left boot was missing - assumably somewhere in the middle of the hill, and his red hoodie was ridden up to his chest. Vanitas breathed hard as he leaned his head back against the soft leaves, closing his eyes. 

_ “Vanitas?! Van, where are you?” _

Vanitas groaned as he opened his eyes. “Here…” he weakly called. 

“Vanitas?” Ven’s voice was getting closer. “Oh, I found your boot…” Vanitas laughed softly as he watched Ventus holding his jacket and left boot in his arms, sliding down the hill toward him. 

Ven sighed, relieved. “There you are! I’m  _ so _ sorry, I didn’t know you’d lose your balan-” the last word was cut off slightly as Ventus observed Vanitas’ exposed stomach. 

Vanitas blushed slightly, trying to move his arm so he could pull down the hoodie. He was self conscious about the scar that resided on the side of his abs from when Xehanort forcibly _split them apart_. Ventus seemed to notice his discomfort, and helped Vanitas free his arms. Vanitas muttered a small ‘thank you’ and put on his jacket and left boot. 

Ventus looked at his hair, stifling a laugh. “What is it?” Vanitas said, slightly irked. “What’s wrong with my hair?” 

Ventus giggled. “Nothing, just-” he reached up to ruffle Van’s hair, and Vanitas stepped away, squawking. Ven’s hand pulled away, covered in bright yellow  _ pollen. _ He laughed as Vanitas stared at it, frowning, shaking his head. Pollen started flying everywhere, covering Ven’s hair as well. “Hey!” 

Ventus bolted into a sprint, Vanitas hot on his heels. They ran until Ven arrived at a small beach, completely cut off by water. Vanitas slowed to a stop, admiring the large kingdom beyond the shore.

“Woah,” Vanitas whispered quietly behind Ven. “Is this what you meant by the ‘Kingdom of Corona?’”

Ventus smiled and nodded. He knew Vanitas would be curious.

“Well…” Vanitas droned, “we should  _ probably _ check to see if there are any  _ heartless _ nearby, right Ventus?” he said, smirking mischievously. 

Ventus chuckled. “Yeah!” he exclaimed, “Let’s go check it out. Maybe we can find Rapunzel.” He reached back and took Vanitas’ hand, dragging him along. 

Vanitas was starting to get deja vu from the time that Ven dragged him by the wrist back in the Land of Departure, but this time Ventus was holding his  _ hand. _ This is what Vanitas  _ wanted. _ His heart started to race and they ran across a bridge. Vanitas slowly interlocked their fingers, mindful of the way Ventus’ ears turned pink. 

Sooner than Vanitas would have liked, they arrived at a small plaza in the middle of the kingdom. Vanitas looked around, refusing to let go of Ventus’ hand. Tall buildings and markets surrounded them, but the shop owners seemed to be packing up for the night.  _ Night? _ Vanitas looked up. Above them were pennant strings of purple flags, with yellow suns weaved into them. He had to squint to see the patterns though, it was already starting to get dark.  _ This day is almost over, _ he thought, dissatisfied. He wanted to spend more time in this world, more time with  _ Ventus _ . He sighed, feeling Ven drag him along, pulling him out of his thoughts.

“Come on, I want to go before these shops close…” Ventus kept dragging him through the crowds, and Vanitas thought he heard Ven mutter,  _ ‘I lost track of time.’ _

Van frowned, confused. _ Why is Ven acting frantic? _ He yanked Ventus back roughly, pulling his hand away, ignoring Ven’s hurt puppy dog eyes.

“ _ Where are we going _ , Ventus,” he said over the loud chatter of the crowds. He briefly observed that they were holding small, flat, paper _ things _ . He refocused, calming down a bit. “Tell me Ven, what’s  _ wrong _ ?” 

Ventus looked down at the floor, embarrassed. His eyes were starting to tear up. “I’m sorry, I just-” he choked slightly, swallowing around a lump in his throat, “I really wanted...to do something...with you...here,” he finished. 

Vanitas frowned, speaking gently, “What do you mean?”

Just as Ven opened his mouth to talk, a woman in a lavender colored dress came barreling down the marketplace. She had a plentiful bouquet of flowers on her head, almost making a flower  _ dome _ instead of a crown. He snorted as a small, bejeweled tiara struggled to stay on her head as she bounced between the groups of people. She came up to them, panting, but recollecting herself quickly.

“Hello!” She greeted enthusiastically. Vanitas gazed at Ventus, who seemed nervous. The princess - Vanitas assumed - looked them over.  _ Was she expecting us to do a formal greeting? _ Van bowed slightly in a half-greeting, half-apology. She heard the princess giggle. “You don’t have to be so formal! Buuut…” she looked him over again, “ _ you _ look like someone I’ve met before. Tell me, are you Sora’s brother?” 

Vanitas blinked at her, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. “Uh, yeah, kinda…” 

The princess didn’t comment on it. She stared at him with wide eyes. “Weeell, are you going to tell me your name?”

“Vanitas,” he said curtly.

“Rapunzel,” the princess replied. She looked over at Ven and giggled. “And who might  _ you _ be,” she said as a statement more than a question, as if it were an inside joke.

Ventus’ eyes darted to Vanitas, sending him an anxious look, then met Rapunzel’s with a forced smile. “Ventus. Call me Ven.”

“Awesome! Well Ven,  _ Vanitas _ ,” she smiled his way, looking at him for a few awkward seconds. “I welcome you! We’re holding a little festival here becaaause…” she paused for dramatic effect, “It’s my birthday!” she clapped her hands. “You missed some of the festivities - well,  _ most _ of the festivities, buuut we will be flying lanterns soon!”

“Lanterns?” Vanitas questioned.

Rapunzel’s face lit up. “Yes! Okay, so, it's a  _ looong _ story and I _ can’t _ get into most of it or else we won’t have time, but when I was little, my parents sent out these lanterns every night on my birthday to try to light my way home, so now we do the same thing but in  _ celebration _ of my return.” She looked around worriedly, pouting. “But...I don’t know if there are any lanterns for sale anymore,” she sighed, “and all the boats were taken...”

Ventus looked upset by this, and Vanitas’ mouth set into a frown.  _ Ven wanted to do this, _ Van thought to himself. He looked around, noticing that the crowds of people had all but disappeared. Rapunzel was mourning the loss of the lanterns in the most  _ obnoxious way possible _ , but Vanitas wasn’t paying much attention to her. He scoured the ground, searching. The stone floors were filthy, covered in garbage and dead flower petals. Amidst the trash, he noticed something that looked like a stepped on paper plate. He walked over to it, dusting it off.  _ A lantern. _

Rapunzel ran over to him, clasping her hands delightedly. “You found a lantern!” she looked it over, “It  _ may _ be covered in dirt and was probably stepped on, but it’s a lantern nonetheless,” a whistling came from the castle, and Rapunzel looked up to see Eugene waving around, a lantern in his hand. “Oh! It looks like I have to go. Gosh, can you believe it’s already dark out? This day just went way too fast.” Vanitas nodded, agreeing with her. 

“Alrighty then, I’ll see you guys later. You better hurry! We’ll be sending the first lanterns soon. Goodbye!” she waved at them before running back to the castle.

“Thank you Rapunzel!” Ventus called to her before watching her disappear behind a house. He turned to Vanitas. “So…” he started, “do you really want to watch the lanterns together?” He looked hopeful.

Vanitas shrugged, “I  _ did _ pick up a lantern, didn’t I?”

“Yeah,” Ventus smiled warmly. “We may not be able to find a boat, but do you want to sit down at the docks with me?”

“Of course,” Vanitas replied.

~ ~ ~

It only took them a few minutes to get to the docks. They wordlessly sat down together, Vanitas holding the paper lantern in his hands. They stared at the great expanse of the lake before them, watching couples and families row around leisurely. 

“Do you wish that we were on one of those boats?” Vanitas asked quietly. Ventus hummed, staring down at his legs, which were dangling over the side of the wooden panels. 

Ven sighed, “Yeah,” he admitted. “I mean, it’s the  _ normal _ thing that people do…”

“Please,” Vanitas scoffed lightly, “When have  _ we _ ever done things  _ normally _ .”

Ventus smiled fondly, almost sad. Vanitas nudged Ven’s shoulder with his elbow, “Come on, this isn’t so bad. I mean, it’s nice outside...we’re both here...,” he trailed off slightly. Vanitas whispered at the still waters below them, “I’m glad that you saved me...back in the realm of darkness,” he clarified. “Because...if you didn’t? I wouldn’t have been able to spend today with you. I wouldn’t have gotten to know Aqua, and Terra, and Namine, and Xion…” He looked at Ventus, unshed tears in his eyes.

“Thank you, Ven.”

“Van…” he replied, awestruck, _also_ on the verge of tears. Their faces were illuminated as hundreds of lanterns floated above their heads, gliding across the air.

Vanitas unfolded their own lantern, fixing a small dent in the side. It wasn’t perfect by _ any means of the word _ , but it was still good. He lit the center with a small dark fira, and turned to Ven, offering the lantern. “You ready?” 

Ventus nodded wordlessly, holding one half, while Vanitas held the other. They lifted the lantern into the air, watching as it got swept away with the other gentle lights, flying with fiery brilliance. Ventus stared in wonder as the lanterns slowly flittered upwards, listening to the joyous cries of children, or exclaimed excitement from the lovers nearby.

Vanitas watched Ventus’ sky-blue eyes drift from lantern to lantern. He didn’t want to look at the lights floating around the sky aimlessly. He already had his own, sitting right next to him. 

Ventus started to send glances Vanitas’ way, trying to subtly shift closer to him. Every so often, Vanitas would catch Ventus trying to swing his legs back and forth to build momentum, then he would slide a few inches. Vanitas huffed at Ven’s third attempt, bringing his arm around Ven’s waist and pulling him flush against his side. 

Vanitas blushed madly, the realization of what he did hitting him like a truck, but he refused to let go. Ventus was a warm weight against his side, and Van felt blonde hair tickle the side of his neck as Ven rested his cheek against Vanitas’ shoulder. They stayed like this for a moment, bathing in each other’s embrace, until every lantern was gone, so far up in the sky that they blended into vibrant, orange lights - a beautiful contrast to the pale blue stars burning far away. 

The wind started to blow fierce, and Vanitas realized that all the rowboats from the lake had been docked minutes ago. A shiver ran up Ven’s spine, and he reluctantly pulled away from Van’s side. He stared at Vanitas, the moon reflected in those _sharp_ , _burnt-amber_ eyes. Ven's lips parted, as if to say something, but he stayed frozen in place.

Vanitas stared down at Ven’s soft, pink lips, heart beating wildly out of his chest. He felt so giddy - so  _ happy _ from everything that happened today, that he didn’t think of the consequences when he leaned down to kiss Ven.

Vanitas closed his eyes, lost in the feeling of Ventus’  _ full, bright _ lips against his own chapped, rough ones. Ventus made a small noise of surprise, his mouth opening slightly. Vanitas took the opportunity to run his tongue across Ven’s bottom lip, hearing the answering whimper that fell from his mouth. Vanitas’ hands rested on Ven’s thighs, and they would not. stop.  _ shaking _ . Ventus melted into the kiss, wrapping his arms around Van enthusiastically. 

Vanitas' world stopped as he heard a loud  _ splash _ from a nearby fish. His eyes shot open, blood pounding in his ears.  He pulled away from Ven, tugging away the arms that were wrapped around his shoulders. Ventus looked pained, almost hurt, his lips red and wet. 

I _ did that… _

Vanitas inhaled sharply, his hands still  _ shaking _ in uncertainty. He shut his eyes tightly, stars dancing in his vision. “I-” Vanitas broke off, summoning a portal behind him. Before he could say anything else, he stood up, leaving a starstruck Ventus alone on the docks.

~ ~ ~

Vanitas groaned. He’d teleported himself _right_ to his bedroom, locking his door. He'd flopped down on his bed, staring at the ceiling, and started beating himself up for what he did for _the past hour_. He looked at the clock next to him. 

_ 1:26 AM _

Van muffled another groan in his hands. _Why._ _Why did I do it? Why...do I want to do it again?_ He thought back to the evening, the lanterns, the _kiss_. His face started to heat up. Ventus may have come home, but maybe not. He wasn’t sure. The castle was _deathly_ quiet, and Vanitas assumed Terra and Aqua were asleep, like _he_ should be. The events of the day played through his mind like a broken record, and he breathed through his nose, trying to calm himself down. He already chucked a thornbite out a small window by its neck, not caring about the pain that came afterwards. 

He tried doing what John and Mary told him to do, to  _ open his heart. _ He thought about his feelings, what did he  _ feel  _ when he was with Ven? His mind helpfully replayed how much Vanitas wanted to _kiss_ Ventus ever since they arrived at the meadow. ‘But  _ why _ ?’ the pessimistic voice taunted him in the back of his mind.  _ ‘You don’t even  _ know _ if Ventus has a flower crown. Even if he did, why would his feelings be for you?’ _

Vanitas breathed shakily, forcing the voice in his head to just  _ shut up _ . He  _ wanted _ Ventus to have feelings for him. He  _ wanted _ Ventus to  _ love _ him. He  _ wanted _ to hold his hand like how Wall-e held Eve’s hand, he  _ wanted _ to go back to the docks and watch the stars with Ven, wrapping him up in a warm hug.  _ Why? _ He asked himself. Because…

“I’m in love with Ventus,” he admitted into his empty bedroom, the only witness being a stray flood that spawned amidst his  _ panic _ and  _ self hate _ . It didn’t attack anything, almost like it was at peace, curling up on the foot of the bed like a small cat.

Vanitas drifted off into a deep sleep, feeling lighter somehow, like something finally slotted into place. He didn’t stir when something strange happened to his crown of buds…


	11. Arbutus - Thee only do I love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blood warning if anyone here is squeamish like me

The next morning started like any other morning did. Vanitas woke up bleary eyed and picked the stray flood up by the scruff, tossing it out the window. He barely registered the feelings of  _ confusion _ and  _ self hate _ that absorbed into his body. 

He trudged his way to the bathroom, which was thankfully unoccupied. He turned on the lights and looked at himself in the mirror, completely unprepared for what he saw. Vanitas reeled back, slamming the door shut a little too loudly. He shoved his face so close to the mirror he was practically touching it.

The buds that once covered his head were  _ freshly bloomed, _ creeping out of their shell, vibrant and new. Strange lavender colored flowers caressed the top of his black spikes, lacing into two thick vines. Only a few inches above were _pointed, Dark Purple Hyacinths_ (Vanitas knew from the flowers that Aqua planted in the front of the castle). He looked at them with a panic, his fingers gracing the dark flowers. His eyes wandered below the light-purple foreign flowers, his lips pressed in a frown. Between soft green leaves,  _ massive  _ **_white_ ** _ flowers _ wrapped their way innocently around Van’s bangs. 

“What?” he gritted between his teeth.  _ This wasn’t right.  _ These flowers were crisp white like the snow in Arendelle.  _ Pure. _ He isn’t supposed to  _ have _ these flowers. They reminded him of  _ light.  _ Was this some kind of sick joke? 

His mind wandered to the story about the princess and the knight. _ ’The more complex the crown, the more complicated the feelings.’ _ His crown must be a representation of how unstable his emotions are, just like his unversed. 

Vanitas wanted to punch something, he could feel anger get the better of him. He didn’t know  _ what _ he was angry at though. The flowers? His circumstances? His emotions?  _ Life? _ It didn’t matter anymore.

Vanitas stared at the crown on his head. His fist was shaking. It was too much, his unstable emotions, his anger, his uncertainty. He reached up and tore out one of the large, white flowers off his head violently, an audible  _ snap _ echoing through the bathroom as he crushed the flower in his fist.

Vanitas was mortified when the severed vine started to leak  _ blood. “W-what?!”  _ he whispered, unbelieving. Just as he reached for a piece of tissue paper to help clot the bleeding, a sharp, needle-like pain wracked his brain. He cried out, dropping the box of tissues. His vision was spotty, dots clinging to his closed eyelids. 

_ “VAN?! Are you okay?”  _ It was _Ventus_.

_ No! _ Vanitas wanted to cry out. Ven could absolutely  _ not _ see this. He braced himself on the marble sink, dazedly thinking of a plan of escape, whimpering softly as the pain was becoming too much. He heard Ventus’ footsteps come to a stop behind the closed,  _ unlocked _ door. A string of worried thoughts flitted through Vanitas’ slurred mind, all the while blood from his crown poured over the linoleum floor. 

“I’m opening the door!” Ventus yelled.

Vanitas grunted and summoned a portal, using the last of his strength to cover himself in his dark suit before pushing off the sink. He tumbled through the corridor, finding himself in the middle of the Badlands. He fell to his knees, letting unversed spawn freely. He stared at the white flower in the palm of his hand, covered in blood. Tears pricked the corners of Vanitas’ eyes, and he cried silently into the dry air. Tears mixed with crimson streams, making a bigger mess. Vanitas repressed a sob as he felt warm hands cradle his head, someone sitting next to him. 

“Oh, Van,” he heard Ventus say sympathetically. “What did you do?” Vanitas slowly looked up to see Ven’s worried face, but his eyes widened when he discovered what was on Ven’s head. Three  _ bright-green _ vines braided themselves around the crest of his head, coming to rest in the back. Very intricate cream-colored flowers sat in formation in front of the vines, and stems of  _ bell-shaped _ pearly white blooms came to form points on the top. Vanitas’ mouth hung open in awe as he noticed a strand of white  _ Bleeding Hearts _ hanging down from Ven’s bangs like ornaments. He looked ethereal.

Vanitas’ thoughts were interrupted when a bead of  _ sweat _ and  _ blood _ dripped into his already tear-stained eyes. He cried out, trying to bring a bloody hand to his face, scrubbing away the pain. Ventus panicked, moving Vanitas’ hand and shushing him comfortingly. 

“J-just wait. I know it hurts, just hang on.” 

Vanitas’ eyes stayed shut as he heard Ven cast a small water spell. He felt a cool hand brush water over his face, removing the blood and sweat. Ventus brought Van’s head to his chest, muttering a  _ ‘curaga’ _ into his raven-black hair. 

The spell worked instantly, and Vanitas sighed in relief as the pain in his head died down. He opened his eyes, noticing how he was practically _in Ventus’ lap_ at this point. He mulled over his options. 

_ Ventus can see my flower crown...He can see  _ my _ crown and now I know  _ he _ has one of his own...How long has he had one? Does he feel the same about me the way I feel about him?  _

His thoughts drifted to the old fairytale book he read long ago.  _ What did princess Strelitzia do? _

He pushed himself away from Ventus, looking him in the eyes. Vanitas unclenched his fist, holding the bloody,  _ not-so-white-anymore _ flower in his hand. His heart started to beat faster as he held it out. “Ven…” he started shakily.

“V-Vanitas?” 

He felt his ears burn red.  _ How do people do this? _ Van remembered that Princess Strelitzia and the Knight in Ven’s old storybook bonded over the knowledge of their flowers, but Vanitas had no idea what  _ his _ meant. What if his flowers mean something bad like  _ disgust _ or  _ resentment _ ? He shivered at the thought, and started to pull away from Ven. His wrists were grasped firmly in Ventus’ hands.

“No, Vanitas...talk to me?” he asked shyly, nudging an unversed out of the way with the heel of his shoe.

Vanitas looked down, “Look, I don’t know what these flowers mean. I don’t know  _ why _ it started bleeding when I tore it out. And I certainly _ didn’t _ know  _ why _ I started budding a while ago, but-” he cut himself off, taking a deep breath. He looked Ventus in the eyes, holding the flower out again. “I learned something. I learned a lot of things, actually,” he laughed sheepishly, “but, I would have never learned anything...without you… Without you, I would have never been able to learn what it’s like to have  _ friends _ , and how to be  _ truly _ happy with myself. A-And Ventus,  _ you _ make me  _ so happy, _ and I learned...that these flowers, and my feelings, are for  _ you _ . 

_ I love you _ ,” he finished softly. 

Ventus whimpered shakily, his face scrunched up in an attempt not to cry. He shoved an _insistently_ _ friendly _ flood away from his arm as he reached up to his crown, carefully plucking out an array of his flowers, showing them to Vanitas. 

“Vanitas,” he started, “I’ve had this blooms for--for quite some time. I stopped watching the stars with you at night, and I stopped waking you up in the morning because I didn’t want you to see them. I was afraid. I was afraid of my own feelings at first, but I learned I was only afraid of rejection. I was afraid that I wouldn’t be good enough for you-” Vanitas opened his mouth to interject, but Ventus silenced him. “ _ -but _ ” he shouted, calming down slightly, “when you...kissed me last night,” he blushed, looking away for a moment, “I thought that maybe you felt the same way, and I was going to confess to you this morning.” 

He looked Vanitas in the eyes, still a bundle of nervous energy. “Vanitas, I love you too. These flowers that I’m holding mean  _ compassion, unconditional love, sweetness, and secret love _ . These feelings are for you alone, and I hope that you will accept them.”

Vanitas tried not to laugh, and Ventus looked hurt, if not slightly annoyed. “W-what’s so funny?!” he asked, affronted. 

“Just--nothing, it’s just-that last sentence--” he breathed in deeply, taking a calming breath. “Ventus,  _ please _ tell me that you didn’t stay up all morning trying to rehearse what to say with  _ Terra _ .” 

Ventus gave him a blank stare, and Vanitas couldn’t hold it in any longer. He threw his head back, tumbling off of Ven’s lap as he realized that his head now weighed a _lot_ more than he thought. He fell to the ground with an ‘oomph’ and Ventus chimed in as well, laughing merrily. 

Vanitas pushed himself up, realizing that something took his place on Ven’s lap. He blushed as a slightly-larger-than-normal flood curled up on Ven’s criss-crossed legs, snoozing happily.

Ventus laughed at Vanitas’ irritated face. “What’s with this flood?” he asked, slightly amused.

Vanitas scoffed, “I don’t know, it must be defective or something. All the other unversed cleared out somewhere…”

“Maybe this unversed is special? You said that they were made from your negative emotions, right? What if this flood was made by  _ positive  _ emotions?”

Vanitas’ eyebrow twitched. “Are you saying this flood spawned out of  _ love _ ?”

Ventus smirked, “ _ I _ didn’t say that,  _ you _ did.” He looked down at the sleeping flood and started stroking its head. Vanitas could feel the phantom sensation of fingers gliding through his hair, and he closed his eyes in bliss, almost purring. 

Ventus grinned wickedly. There’s no way he’d Vanitas live this down, but… He looked around, noticing just where they were. He sighed dreamily, “You know,” Vanitas opened his eyes as Ventus moved the flood out of his lap, “Only _ you _ would confess to me in a _ literal graveyard _ .”

Vanitas’ face blanched, and he looked at the old, dead keyblades scattered around them. “Oh…” he said lamely. Ventus got up, dusting himself off. Some blood was starting to dry on his pants, but Vanitas was  _ way _ worse, dried blood covering his hair and dark suit. Ventus didn’t comment. Vanitas stuttered, “I--I didn’t-”

Ventus launched himself at Vanitas, wrapping him in a hug. “It’s okay Vanitas,” he giggled when Vanitas hugged him back. Ventus gave one last squeeze before letting go, looking into Van’s ruby-colored eyes. “And, if you want to learn the meanings of your flowers, I’d be glad to teach you,” he said quietly, staring at his flower crown. 

“Yeah, I’d like that,” Vanitas nodded. 

“Well,” Ventus studied his flowers. “These-” he pointed to the dark purple flowers “-are Purple Hyacinths, and...they mean forgiveness…” he trailed off. “Van, do you still think we don’t forgive you?” He looked at Van with puppy-eyes, and Vanitas looked away.

“Its not--” he sighed, “Ven, I’ll  _ always _ have those doubts, and I’ll  _ always _ be sorry for what I did to you in the past...but I know you guys care about me,” he gulped, “and love me.” 

Ventus smiled, and Vanitas coughed slightly, “S-so, what do the other blooms mean?”

Ven moved his hands to the lavender colors flowers, humming in thought. “These look like Purple Lilacs, and they mean _ first emotions of love, _ ” Ventus smiled at him goofily, and Vanitas’ face started to go pink. 

Van put his face in his hands, closing his eyes. “This was a bad idea…” he groaned.

“Oh shush, I haven’t gotten to this flower yet,” Ven stared at the massive, white flowers in the middle of his crown, ignoring the missing one that was  _ shriveled up _ and  _ dried with blood _ on the ground. Ven blushed slightly.

“T-These are White Camellias, a-and they mean...you’re adorable,” he smiled warmly at Vanitas. “You really think that about me?” 

Vanitas’ face turned a shade darker as he stared into Ven’s eyes, “Yes, I do,” he said half-strained, uncomfortable bearing all his emotions to Ventus at once. 

“Aw, Vanitas!” Ventus exclaimed, kissing Vanitas’ cheek with an audible  _ smack _ as he pulled away. 

Vanitas rubbed at his cheek. “Ventus! You--” he cut himself off, grabbing Ven’s shoulders and pulling him into a bruising kiss. 

It was chaste, and very brief, but Vanitas closed his eyes, pouring all the emotions he can’t explain into the gesture. He pushed closer and closer to Ven, who hummed and tilted his head slightly. Their lips slotted together perfectly, and Vanitas sighed in appreciation. He could get addicted to kissing Ven  _ very _ fast. 

They tried pulling apart, but Vanitas’ Camellias got tangled in Ven’s Bleeding Hearts. 

“Aah! W-Wait Van, Let me just--” he reached up, untangling the blooms from each other. 

Vanitas laughed sheepishly. “I guess we’ll have to get better at that, huh?” 

Ventus smiled at the promise of a  _ next time, _ smiling giddily as Vanitas summoned his glider, taking them back home.

~ ~ ~

They arrived at the castle, hand in hand, storming through the hallways. They made their way into the kitchen and ate breakfast together, waiting for Terra and Aqua to join them. They sent them a text, telling them to get into the kitchen _ immediately _ . 

“Guys, are you in here?” they heard Aqua call. “We have some news of our own too.”

She stepped through the doorway, showing off her own head of vivid blue flowers, pale green vines wrapping around her ears. “Soo? What do you think?” she inquired.

“They look amazing, Aqua!” Ventus replied excitedly, “Where’s Terra?”

“I’m right h-- WOAH! Vanitas, your  _ blooms _ look  _ fantastic _ !” Terra shouted, shaking his own fiery flower crown of pale reds and yellows. “I take it the confession went smoothly,” he winked at Ventus, who promptly blushed to the tips of his ears.

“W-Well, kinda-sorta, in a roundabout way, yeah,” he smiled at Vanitas, who stayed quiet about the whole ordeal. 

“So then,” Vanitas said to Terra, smirking devilishly, “I’m assuming that  _ Aqua _ was the one to confess to  _ you _ , huh?” 

“Whaaat? Nooo! I just...you know…” he tugged at the collar of his shirt. Aqua had to stifle a laugh. “Oh shut up, will you, Vanitas?” 

Aqua burst into laughter, Ventus not far behind. He grasped Vanitas’ hand, interlocking their fingers. Vanitas joined in on the laughter, content to stay here with his friends and  _ boyfriend  _ forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaand there you have it, again ty guys for sticking with me <3   
> I have to give a shoutout to BlueStarNights on deviantart because she always kicked my butt into gear and helped me write ideas for this 😂
> 
> https://www.deviantart.com/bluestarnights/art/Flower-Crowns-Shouldn-t-be-830976245

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! 
> 
> I have no idea when im going to be posting more chapters, im so unreliable. also it just occurred to me that a blooming heart is a plant in pvz2 and its adorable so...


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